Reciprocal Rights (risalatu 'l-huquq)

Supplement

39. As for the right of him who seeks your advice (mustashir) is that, if you have advice for him, you should be sincere to him and give him such advice which, had you been in his place, you would have followed yourself; and the advice should be rendered gracefully and gently, because gentleness turns strangeness into friendship, and rudeness estranges friends.

And if you can think of no advice for him but know someone whose judgment you trust and whom you will gladly consult if it comes to your affairs, you should lead and guide your conferee to him. Thus you will not be keeping your kindness away from him or hiding your sympathy from him. And there is no power save in God.

40. As for the right of him who advises you (mushir)

is that, if his advice is not in line with your own views, you should not doubt his sincerity, because it is a matter of opinion and people differ in it, one from another. Therefore, if you disagree with him, you are at liberty to follow your own opinion; but it is not proper for you to put him under suspicion when previously you had thought him worthy of consultation. And do not forget to thank him for his kindness in giving you his opinion and his advice.

And if his advice conforms with your own opinion, be thankful to God and accept it from your brother, that is, the said adviser, with gratitude. And if he should sometime need your advice, advise him sincerely as he did you. And there is no power save in God.

41. As for the right of him who asks your counsel (mustansih) is that you should counsel him according to his need and ability in a way that is agreeable to his hearing, and talk with him according to his intellectual capacity, because every intellect recognizes discourse which is on its own level, and avoids [that which is not on that level] ; and your way should be [based on] mercy. And there is no power save in God.

42. As for the right of your counselor (nasih) is that you should remain humble before him, and give your heart to what he says, and open your ears to his call, so that you may understand his counsel. Then examine it carefully. If he is right, be thankful to God for it, and accept his counsel, and appreciate it. But if he could not discern the truth, then have mercy upon him and do not blame him. You should understand that he did not withhold his counsel from you though his ideas were mistaken. Of course, if you know that he is not sincere with you, then the matter is different; but in that case, you should not listen to him at all. And there is no power save in God.

43. As for the right of him who is older than you is that you should respect him because of his age, and honour him because of his Islam — if he has any merit (fadilah) in Islam — by always giving him precedence and not arguing with him when he is talking, and not overtaking him when he is walking, and not walking in front of his path. Do not be rude to him, and bear with him if he is rude to you; and maintain his respect because his age is advanced in Islam — because the worth of age is according to the worth of Islam. And there is no power save in God.

44. As for the right of him who is younger is that you should have mercy on him through training him, educating him, pardoning him and covering his faults. Be kind to him and help him, and cover up his offence [committed] on account of his young age, because this will lead him to repentance; and treat him with gentleness and do not dispute with him since this is more appropriate for his well guidance.

45. As for the right of him who asks [for help] is that, (if you believe he is in the right and you have the means to meet his needs) you should give him [the help asked for], and pray that his hardship be over, and assist him as he has requested.

And if you doubt he is in the right and do not trust him because of previous dealings [but you are not sure that he is lying this time], then be careful; perhaps this doubt of yours is a trap by Satan who wants to keep you away from your share [of virtue] and desires to come between you and your honour before your Lord. Still, if you decide not to help him, leave him alone [without putting him to shame] , and turn him away gracefully. And if you over-rule the doubts of your heart con-cerning him and give him whatever you think fit for him, surely that is true constancy [Qur. 31:17]

46. As for the right of him from whom you ask [for help] is that if he grants you, you should accept it from him with gratitude, appreciating his kindness. But if he withholds [the offer] you should accept his excuse and think well of him. And know that, if he withheld it, it was his property which he withheld, and he cannot be blamed with regard to his wealth [if he did not give it away] , even if he withheld it from you unjustly, because: verily man is very unjust, very ungrateful [Qur. 14:34]

47. As for the right of him through whom God made you happy is that, if he did so knowingly, you should praise God first of all, then thank him for his favour and try [when you get the chance] to compen-sate him for that favour, nay, to do even more, since he had the grace of initiative [because his favour was not in lieu of any previous favour from you]. And look out for any chance to make him happy.

If that person did the favour [which made you happy] unintentionally and unknowingly, you should thank God and be grateful to Him and know that this favour is from God Who has reserved it for you. Still, you should love that person [by whose hand God sent that happiness to you] , because he was the means of bringing the grace of God to you; and pray for his happiness ever after, because the source of the blessing of God is a grace in itself wherever it may be, although he did it unintentionally. And there is no power save in God.

48. As for the right of him who was unjust to you in word or deed is that, if he did so knowingly and intentionally then forgiveness is more suitable for you, because it will weed out enmity between the two of you. And, further, there are many people in this world, and it is better to deal with them with good grace. And God says:

And whosoever helps himself after he has been wronged — against them there is no way. The way is only open against those who do wrong to the people, and are insolent in the earth wrongfully; there awaits them a painful chastisement. But surely he who bears patiently and is forgiving — surely that is true constancy. [Qur. 42:41- 43]

And He, to Whom belong Might and Majesty, has also said:

And if you chastise, chastise even as you have been chastised; and yet assuredly if you are pa- tient, better it is for those patient. [Qur. 16:126] All this concerns the person who was intentionally unjust to you. But if it was not intentional, then you should not afflict him by taking your revenge pur-posely, otherwise it will mean that you avenged an unintentional mistake with intentional punishment. Be patient with him and turn him away [from his mistake] in the most graceful manner. And there is no power save in God.

49. As for the right of the people of your creed [Muslims] in general is that, you should have peaceful feelings towards them and spread the wings of mercy upon them; that you should be gentle towards the wrong-doers among them and reform them by earning their love; that you should be grateful to him who is virtuous in his character or is generous towards you, because his virtuousness of character [even without any apparent benefit to you] is in itself a generosity towards you, as he thus saved you from his misbe-haviour and spared you the effort of protecting your-self from him, and kept his troubles away from you.

Therefore, pray, when you pray, for all of them, and keep your help ready for all of them, and treat all of them according to their proper position:

treat elders as you would your own father, those younger than you as you would your own child, and contemporaries as you would your own brother. Thus treat any of them who comes to you with grace and mercy; and convey to your [Muslim] brother whatever is incumbent on a brother for a brother.

50. As for the right of the people [non-Muslims] under the protection [of Islam] , the rule about them, is that you should accept what God has accepted from them and should give them the rights which God has granted them; and refer to the shari`ah of God about the responsibilities which they have. And if there is any matter between them and you, then decide according to the commands of God even if it is against your interest. And there must be a barrier keeping you from any injustice to them, from depriving them of the protection of God, and from flaunting the commitments of God and His Messenger, peace be upon him and his progeny, concerning them, because it has reached us that he [the Holy Prophet] said: "Whosoever does injustice to a protected non-Muslim, I will be his enemy [on the Day of Judgement]."

Therefore, have fear of God [and treat them justly]. And there is no power and no strength save in God.

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So, these are the fifty rights surrounding you, from which you can never escape in any condition; it is obligatory for you to abide by them and endeavour to discharge them, and to seek the help of God, magnificent is His Praise! in all this. And there is no power and no strength save in God. And all praise and thanks is to God, the Lord of the Universe.

THE END