The Sharee'ah enjoins kindness to neighbors

4-5-2023 | IslamWeb

Question:

As salam ahlaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.So there’s this girl that comes from a very difficult family, where they all shout and fight all day long. (Parents, siblings, …) This would annoy her neighbors. However she knew that annoying neighbors is haram, but she didn’t know it was a major sin at all. (she tought it would be a minor sin) She wants to repent but she does not know how to, she’s anxious about it. Should she apologize to her neighbors ? And will it count as a major sin since she didn’t know it was a major sin?

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The Sharee'ah enjoins kindness towards the neighbor, as evidenced in the Qur'an and the Sunnah texts which emphasize the prohibition of harming one's neighbor. Allah the Almighty says (what means): {The near neighbor, the neighbor farther away…} [Quran 4:36]. And the hadith of Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of said, “He will not enter Jannah (Paradise) whose neighbor is not secure from his wrongful conduct.” Therefore, scholars considered this act a major sin, including al-Dhahabi in his book al-Kabaair (The Major Sins). Even if we were to suppose this sin to be minor, it should not be taken lightly or underestimated.

It was not mentioned in the question that this girl had caused harm to her neighbors so that we could ask her to repent, nor was it mentioned whether the neighbor heard those voices and was harmed by them or not.

In any case, this girl should strive to amend her family and advise them in the best way so that they stop quarreling and lower their voices for fear of harming their neighbor.

And seek the help of Allah the Almighty, then that of those good people who hopefully can influence her family.

Allah knows best.