Group living lays foundations of social life. Though most of the animals live in flocks, herds and groups, but Homo sapiens exhibit the most organized form of group living. It is the real living because people around us add colour to our intrinsic monotony. Man would have crumbled and succumbed to the pressure of his own innate emotions, if there would have been no people around him. The Creator of the universe has devised us in such a manner that we can’t afford to live in solitude. So, living to-gather with our fellows is not our favour to the world, but, it is rather one of the basic requirements and necessities of our lives.
Pages of history bear witness to the fact that man has never chosen to live in seclusion. Solitude suits Allah (SWT) alone, as it is only a divine attribute. We have been programmed to live with others. Our immediate relatives and kinsmen form our interim society. Parents and siblings become our first acquaints. But, later in the life, the domain of our togetherness expands. We get introduced to our neighbours with whom we share an intimate proximity. Consequently, the neighbours not only leave indelible impressions on the canvas of our individual and collective living, but become a source of strength for us. They are cool shades which soothe and calm us during the scorching heat of adversity and difficulties. They don’t let us face troubles alone rather they shield us from perils and pitfalls of turbulent times. Any possible glitch in the relationships with our neighbours will halt the wagon of life.
Neighbours are our limbs. They help us to ease our sufferings off. But, unfortunately, we have begun to chop them off. The scenario is altogether bleak and awful in our posh colonies where echoes of pain of a distressed neighbour fail to penetrate through the tall walls of cement concrete. The insensitivity and callousness is slowly spreading to our towns and villages. Though villages still possess the cohesion of brotherhood and love, but the breach of duality and division is widening alarmingly. A few decades back, a neighbour’s son was never maltreated by our ancestors. But, now, our rigid dichotomous approach has strangulated our cherished ideals of life. We no longer think about our needy and poor neighbour. Even we don’t consider it our moral obligation to feel empathetic about someone whose house is separated from our house by only a thin fence. The venom of egotism has stoned our hearts and blinded our eyes to the extent that we hardly bother to understand the predicament of our neighbour.
Lending and borrowing is the essence of human society because it connects hearts. Our ancestors would never hesitate to lend and borrow from their neighbours. But, things have changed drastically. We have failed to maintain the harmonious bonding with our neighbours. Our glorious past of care, compassion, kindness and brotherhood has almost become history, now. The virtues of our eminently illustrious past are now confined to books only. Now, we won’t borrow a cup of oil from our neighbour, because it is considered to be an insult to our false awe and hollow majesty. Lending a bowl of flour to a needy neighbour, was thought an obligation in the past. But, now, the rust of miserliness has erased the ideal from our cardinal principles. Lending edibles and other daily goods to our neighbours neither make them rich nor reduce our wealth, but, it adds saccharinity to our relationships with our neighbours. A righteous neighbour is indeed a divinely blessing and benediction upon a man. Prophet Muhammad (SAW) has said that blessed is the one whose neighbour is virtuous and affable. Even many anecdotes from our past endorse the fact.
Once, Hazrat Ibrahim Adham (RA) decided to sell his ancestral house. Many people showed interest but none could complete the bargain because he had doubled the price of the house. One of the customers asked him, “O Ibrahim Adham (RA), your house costs only twenty thousand Deenars, but you are hellbent to sell it at a whopping forty thousand Deenars. The illogical and unpalatable price is against your piousness and upright standards.” Ibrahim Adham (RA) smiled and said, “You are absolutely right. My house is not worth more than twenty thousand Deenars. It only costs twenty thousand Deenars. Here is the secret behind the double price of my house – Since my next-door neighbour is extremely pious, virtuous and honest. So, the extra twenty thousand Deenars is the price for having a righteous neighbour. And interestingly, the neighbour was a Jew.
Our valley was once a blend of values and ethos. Sharing was the mantra of life. Altruism was running in the blood of our fathers and forefathers. Selfishness had no space in their hearts. Neighbour’s prosperity and success was celebrated in the entire neighborhood. Lending and borrowing was norm of the day. Houses were raw but relationship was concrete. Schools and colleges were fewer in number but wisdom, honesty, sincerity and integrity were found everywhere. One neighbour’s plight would resound and reverberate in the entire neighborhood. Love and sympathy was the elixir of life, then. Our cordial and exemplary relationships with our neighbours were enviable. The land of rishis and munis was known for its hospitality and generosity. But, now, the decline in our value system is evident. We have undoubtedly failed to transfer the values and virtues to our younger generations. We should held ourselves responsible for the extreme social disintegration and mayhem.
(Author is a Teacher and a Regular Columnist. He can be reached at [email protected])
