It really refers to two people who have the same mother, father or both.
It really refers to two people who have the same mother, father or both. It is also used for someone who has been breast-fed by one’s mother. In a more general sense, it is also used for one’s partner in industry or trade, one who is from the same tribe or one having the same beliefs.
There are several instances in the Holy Qur’an when this word is used to refer to real brothers or believing brothers like in Chapters Yusuf and Nisaa.[^2] The Importance of Islamic Brotherhood The Holy Qur’an says: إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ “The Believers are but a single Brotherhood: So make peace and reconciliation between your two (contending) brothers; and fear God, that ye may receive Mercy.” [The Holy Qur’an, al-Hujurat 49:10] This verse expresses one of the most important slogans of Islam.
Islam has put such a strong bond between the Muslims and has made them so close that it has called them brothers. Thus, Islam considers all Muslims to belong to one family. This is completely felt during the religious and political ceremonies of the pilgrimage of the Ka’ba. All the people who attend these ceremonies feel to be brothers to each other even though some have come from the West, and others have come from the East.
Let us consider what the Prophet has said in this regard: المُسْلِمُ أخو المْسلِمِ لا يَظْلِمُهُ ولا يخْذِلُهُ ولا يُسَلِّمُهُ. “A Muslim is the brother of other Muslims. He never oppresses them. He never abandons them. He never leaves them alone in the face of calamities.” [^3] In another tradition, the Prophet said: مَثَلُ الأخَوَينِ مَثَلُ اليَدَينِ تَغْسِلُ إحداهُما الأخْرى.
“Two believing brothers are like two hands each washing the other.” ^4 The Prophet’s representation of two Muslims as the hands of the same body is a beautiful similitude showing that all Muslims belong to the same nation, and each Muslim is one of the hands of that nation. A Believer: Brother of Other Believers Imam Sadiq said: المُؤمِنُ أخُو المُؤمِنِ؛ عَينُهُ وَدَلِيلُهُ لا يخُونُهُ ولا يَظْلِمُهُ وَلا يغُشُّهُ ولا يَعِدُه عِدَةً فَيُخْلِفُهُ. “A believer is the brother of other believers.
He acts as their eyes and as their guide. He will never cheat or oppress them.