Caring for the Neighbour

عن جابر  رضي الله عنه قال : قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم : إذا طبخ أحدكم قدرا فليكثر مرقها ثم ليناول جاره منها رواه الطبراني في الأوسط وفيه عبيد الله بن سعيد قائد الأعمش وثقه ابن حيان وضعفه غيره وبقية رجاله ثقات (مجمع الزوائد رقم 13545)

Hadhrat Jaabir (Radhiallahu Anhu) reports that Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said: “When anyone of you prepares a pot of food, then increase the gravy (e.g. by adding some water), and thereafter send some of it for one’s neighbours.

Hasan Basri (Rahmatullahi Alaihi) and his Tolerance of his Neighbour’s Dirt

Hasan Basri (Rahmatullahi Alaihi) lived in the bottom storey of a building. The sewage of the neighbour living at the upper storey used to leak into his home. Hasan Basri (Rahmatullahi Alaihi) ordered that a container be placed beneath that area so that the drops fall therein. At night, when there was no one to observe what was happening, he would take the container and dispose of the dirt. In this way, twenty years passed without him informing his neighbour. One day while he was ill, his neighbour from the upper storey who was a Christian came to visit him. When he saw the container filled with dirt and realized that the dirt was falling from his house, in embarrassment and shame he asked: “How long have you been enduring all this?” Hasan Basri (Rahmatullahi Alaihi) replied:  “For the last twenty years.” Upon hearing this, he removed his traditional Christian garment and immediately accepted Islam. (Pearls from the Path)