The Meaning of the Hadith: “By Allah, he does not believe”

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Question:
May Allah reward you. Honorable Shaykh, this person asks: What is the meaning of the Prophet’s (peace and blessings be upon him) statement:

It was narrated that 'Urwah said: "The rest of the wives of the Prophet refused for anyone to enter upon them on the basis of that type of breast-feeding, meaning breast-feeding of an adult. They said to 'Aishah: 'By Allah, we think that what the Messenger of Allah told Sahlah bint Suhail to do was a concession which was granted by the Messenger of Allah only with regard to breast-feeding Salim. By Allah, no one will enter upon us, nor see us on the basis of this type of breast-feeding.'"

صلى الله عليه وسلم والله لا يؤمن والله

Sunan an-Nasa'i 3324Sahih (Darussalam)

It was asked: Who, O Messenger of Allah? He said:

whose neighbour is not secure from his wrongful conduct

من لا يأمن جاره بوائقه

Sahih Muslim 46

or as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said.

Answer:
Yes, meaning the neighbor is safe from his harm. Allah the Exalted said:

Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents

وَاعْبُدُوا اللَّهَ وَلَا تُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ

[An-Nisa 4:36]

and the orphans, and the poor, and the neighbor who is a close relative, and the neighbor who is a stranger, and the companion in travel, and the one who is in need. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: What is it that Jibril does to the neighbor until I thought he would harm him? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

he who believes in Allah and in the last day should not harm his neighbor

ومن كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فلا يؤذ جاره

Sunan Abi Dawud 5154Sahih (Al-Albani)

There are many hadiths on this. The neighbor has a right, and the neighbor is of three types. One neighbor has three rights: the close Muslim neighbor, who has the right of neighborliness, the right of kinship, and the right of Islam. Another neighbor has two rights: the Muslim neighbor who is not a close relative, who has the right of neighborliness and the right of Islam. And another neighbor has one right: the disbelieving neighbor, who has the right of neighborliness. So it is not permissible to harm the neighbor. He who does not feel safe from his neighbor’s harm does not believe. And “harm” (bawaa’iq) means betrayal: the neighbor’s betrayal regarding his family, may Allah protect us from that. Because the neighbor is like a wall; if he betrays him and harms his family, this is among the greatest of major sins. It was asked of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):

(ﷺ) “Which sin is the most serious?” He replied, attribute a partner to Allah, though He

صلى الله عليه وسلم أي الذنب أعظم؟ قال أن تجعل لله ندا وهو

Bulugh al-Maram 16:23

meaning the severe harm. It was said: What else? He said: That you mock your neighbor’s wife. It was said: What else? He said: That you kill his child so that you may eat with him. And Allah revealed regarding this His saying:

⁽⁶⁸⁾ And those who do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed], except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty. ⁽⁶⁹⁾ Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated - ⁽⁷⁰⁾ Except for

وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَٰهًا آخَرَ وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا يَزْنُونَ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَامًا يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا إِلَّا مَن

[Al-Furqan 25:68-70]

And the meaning of His statement “he does not believe” is not that he becomes a disbeliever and exits the religion, because these major sins do not necessitate disbelief, but rather they diminish faith. So the meaning of His statement “he does not believe” is that he does not possess complete faith, meaning his faith is deficient, and he does not become a disbeliever by Allah’s permission through harming his neighbor or through faith. As for shirk (associating partners with Allah), one becomes a disbeliever by it.

Source معنى حديث: « والله لا يؤمن والله لا يؤمن والله لا يؤمن، قيل: من يا رسول الله؟ قال: من لا يأمن جاره بوائقه » — alfawzan.live

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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