Muslims will be told today to greet their fellow Muslim, accept their invites and gifts and do good deeds on their behalf after they die.
The Prophet Mohammed spoke of five main rights of people that should be protected: "When you meet him [your Muslim brother], read Salam upon him. When he invites you, accept his invitation. When he seeks your counsel, advise him, and when he sneezes and says 'all praise is due to Allah', you say yarhamuka Allah [may Allah have mercy on you].
"When he is ill, visit him, and when he dies, follow him [his funeral procession]."
The first right is simple - greet to those you know and do not know and reply to their greetings. A Muslim is recommended to not only reply to the greeting but to excel in his response.
"And when you are greeted with a greeting, greet [in return] with one better than it or [at least] return it [in a like manner]," says a verse in the Quran.
The second right, which promotes social cohesion, is accepting invitations, whether to happy occasions or sorrowful ones.
The Prophet Mohammed once said: "I shall accept the invitation even if I were invited to a meal of a sheep's trotter, and I shall accept the gift even if it were an arm or a trotter of a sheep."
The sermon adds: "This is an advice for us to positively respond to social invitations from people, irrespective of their status. We should accept the wedding invitations for the immense pleasure it shall bring to the host."
After a person dies, a good deed could be to attend their funeral, perform the funeral Salat, bury them, pray for them, supplicate to Allah to forgive them and have His Mercy on them, visit their relatives and give to charity on their behalf.
[ hdajani@thenational.ae ]
