It is narrated in Bukhari that the Holy Prophet ﷺ told his Companions to refrain from sitting on the roads. So, the Companions ﷺ said: O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! We have no choice but to sit on the streets because that’s where we sit and talk. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: If you sit on the paths, then pay the rights of paths. The people said: O Messenger of Allah ﷺ! What are rights of paths? So, the Prophet ﷺ said that there are five rights to the paths which are as follows.
- Keep your eyes down. This means that since the road is a common passage, those sitting on the road must keep their eyes down. So as not to stare at the faults of Muslims and other non-mahram such as lepers, white spotted or lame lullabies because it will offend them.
- Do not harass any passenger or passerby. This means not sitting in the way so that the way becomes narrow. Don’t make fun of passersby. Do not despise and blame them. Don’t hurt anyone else.
- Keep responding to the greetings of every passer-by.
- And keep telling good things to those who walk by.
- Keep forbidding people from doing things that are against the shariah and are evil.[1]صحیح البخاری ۔۷۹۔کتاب الاستئذان ، باب (۲)رقم ۶۲۲۹،ج۴،ص۱۶۵
Pay the rights or forgive!
If someone had a right over you and you could not pay it for some reason, then if there is something worth paying for that right, for example, someone owed you a debt there are three ways to pay it back either give the right to the rightful owner, that is, pay the loan to the person from whom you took the loan or ask for forgiveness from him and if the person dies, his heirs has the right to pay the debt and if it is not something to be paid, but is capable of forgiving, for example, backbiting or slandering someone, then it is necessary to ask for forgiveness.
And if for some reason he could not pay the rights of the rightful claimants, for example, if the rightful claimants have died, then keep on praying for forgiveness for him and keep on repenting and asking for forgiveness from the Almighty Allah, then it is hoped that on the Day of Resurrection, the Almighty Allah will reward them with a great reward and satisfy them to forgive their rights. If you have a right over others, keep asking gently and if that person is dead, it is better for you to forgive him. ان شاء اﷲ تعالیٰ, on the Day of Resurrection, there will be a great reward for you.(واﷲتعالیٰ۱علم)
Their importance
People generally do not understand the importance of paying the rights of people. However, the issue of rights of people is very important, serious and frightening. Rights of people are more severe than rights of Allah. The Almighty Allah is the Most Merciful. He will have mercy on His servants by His grace and will forgive His rights, but the Almighty Allah will not forgive the rights of the people till the people will forgive their rights. Therefore, it is very important to pay or forgive the rights of the people, otherwise there will be great difficulties on the Day of Resurrection.
It is narrated in the hadith that the Holy Prophet ﷺ once said to his Companions ﷺ: Do you know who the poor person is? The Companions علیھم الرضوان said that the one who does not have money and wealth is the poor. The Holy Prophet ﷺ said: The poorest person in my ummah is the one who will come to the Day of Judgment with the virtues of prayers, fasts and Zakat, but his condition will be that he may have abused someone in the world, slandered someone, occupied someone’s possessions, shed someone’s blood or killed someone, then all those who have rights will demand their rights, then from his good deeds the Almighty Allah will give virtues to all those who have rights equal to their rights.
If the rights of all the rights holders will not fulfill by his good deeds, but the good deeds will be finished and the rights will be remaining, then the Almighty Allah will order that the sins of all the rights holders be place on his head. So, it will bear the sins of all the righteous and then be thrown into hell. So, this person will be the poorest.[2]صحیح مسلم ، کتاب البروالصلۃ ، باب تحریم الظلم، رقم ۲۵۸۱،ص۱۳۹۴
Attention!
That’s why it’s so important to either pay the dues or ask forgiveness. Otherwise, on the Day of Resurrection, those who have rights will take away all the good deeds and that person will be thrown into Hell with the burden of their sins on his head. For God’s sake, think about helplessness and poverty of the Day of Resurrection.