Arabic Text
English Translation
— Anas (RA) (Bukhari & Muslim)
Commentary
Genuine faith requires fellow-feeling. Includes wishing them the good of dunyā and ākhirah.
Extended Explanation
‘None of you truly believes…’ — the negation here is not of the foundation of belief, but of its completion. As Ibn Rajab clarifies: a person without this quality is not a kāfir, but their imān is incomplete.
Loving for your brother what you love for yourself includes: wishing him guidance, wishing him provision, wishing him family, wishing him success, wishing him Jannah. It excludes: envy of his blessings, schadenfreude at his misfortune, withholding good from him out of stinginess.
Ibn Rajab cites the Salaf: ‘The companions used to say — if a man visited his brother and his brother offered him food without him eating, the brother would feel that something was wrong.’ This is fellow-feeling lived out.
From the Scholars
"What is meant by ‘brother’ here is the brother in faith — including all believers. So loving for them what you love for yourself is loving Islam, guidance, mercy, and every good for the entire Ummah."
"The negation in ‘does not believe’ negates the perfection of imān, not its origin. A person without this trait still has imān — but it is deficient."
Fiqh & Rulings
- •Envy (ḥasad) — wishing the removal of a blessing from another — is forbidden and contradicts this hadith.
- •Ghibṭah — wishing for similar blessings without wanting them removed from the other — is permitted and even praised.
- •Loving guidance for non-Muslims is also encompassed; we wish them what we wish for ourselves: Islam.
- •This hadith is the foundation of the prophetic principle of treating others as you wish to be treated.
Qur'ān Cross-References
Key Arabic Vocabulary
does not (truly) believe — i.e. complete imān
loves
for his brother (in faith)
Today's Reflection
Do you wish guidance for those you currently dislike?
Key Benefits
- 1Faith is communal as well as individual.
- 2Selfishness contradicts complete imān.
Common Mistakes & Warnings
- ⚠Loving for your brother does not mean approving of his sins — it means wishing him repentance and guidance.
- ⚠‘Loving for your brother what you love for yourself’ does not require giving away what you need; it requires the heart's good will.
Related Hadiths
Memorization Progress