Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Divine Perspective on Rights Right n. 49: The Right of People of Your Creed حق أهل ملتك وَأمّا حَقُّ أَهْلِ مِلَّتِكَ عَامَّةً فَإضْمَارُ السَّلامَةِ وَنشْرِ جَنَاحِ الرَّحْمَةِ وَالرِّفْقِ بمُسِيئِهمْ وَتأَلُّفُهُمْ وَاسْتِصْلاحُهُمْ وَشُكْرُ مُحْسِنِهِمْ إلَى نفْسِهِ وَإلَيْكَ، فَإنَّ إحْسَانهُ إلَى نفْسِهِ إحْسَانهُ إلَيكَ إذا كَفَّ عَنْكَ أَذاهُ وَكَفَاكَ مَئونتَهُ وَحَبَسَ عَنكَ نفْسَهُ فَعَمِّهِمْ جَمِيعًا بدَعْوَتِكَ وَانصُرْهُمْ جَمِيعاً بنُصْرَتِكَ وَأَنزَلتَهُمْ جَمِيعاً مِنْكَ مَنَازِلَهُمْ، كَبيرَهُمْ بمَنْزِلَةِ الْوَالِدِ وَصَغِيرَهُمْ بمَنْزِلَةِ الْوَلَدِ وَأَوْسَطَهُمْ بمَنْزِلَةِ الأَخِ.
فَمَنْ أَتاكَ تَعَاهَدْتَه بلُطْفٍ وَرَحْمَةٍ. وَصِلْ أَخَاكَ بمَا يَجِبُ لِلأَخِ عَلَى أَخِيهِ. And the right of the people of your creed is that you should have their welfare at heart, be merciful and gentle to their wrongdoers, treat them with friendliness and desire their well-being, and thank those of them who do good to themselves and to you.
[^1] Their goodness to themselves is goodness to you because they have refrained from troubling you, spared you their burden, and restrained themselves from you. So include them all in your supplication, and help them all with your aid. And you should respect each one of them as he deserves: their old men hold the position of your fathers, and their young ones hold the position of your children, and their youths hold the position of your brothers.
You should gently and compassionately care for those of them who come to you. And you should treat your brethren as brothers deserve to be treated. Here the phrase “people of your creed” stands for nation, and it usually refers to people of the same belief. It is similar to religion that God has sent down to people through Prophets. The only difference is that nation is only ascribed to a Prophet not to God or the individuals. We do not say God’s nation or so and so’s nation.
However, religion is ascribed to God, a Prophet, or an individual. We see such instances in the words of the Prophet Joseph in the Holy Qur’an as “the ways of a people”: َ إِنِّي تَرَكْتُ مِلَّةَ قَوْمٍ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَهُمْ بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُون وَاتَّبَعْتُ مِلَّةَ آبَآئِـي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاق َوَيَعْقُوبَ “I have (I assure you) abandoned the ways of a people that believe not in God and that (even) deny the Hereafter.