محمد بن الحسين

“Abū ʿAbdillāh (a) said, ‘The Messenger of Allah (ṣ) said, “I seek Allah’s protection from a bad neighbour in a residential abode – his eyes watch you and his heart scrutinises you. If he sees you [happy and] well, it upsets him and if he sees you in trouble, it pleases him.”’”

“Abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), has said that if a man digs a well (a canal) in a hill which reduces the water of an existing well or canal, they must be examined closely. Such tests must be conducted every night to find out which one reduces the water of the other. If it is found out that the second one reduces the water of the existing, one then it must be closed.’”

"The Messenger of Allah (sw) judged among the people of Medina regarding the irrigation of palm trees, that no benefit of anything should be prevented. And he judged among the people of the desert that the surplus water should not be withheld to prevent the surplus pasture. And he said: 'There is no harm and no harming.'"

O Sama`a! There are four problems that a believer will not escape: (1) A neighbour that will harm him, (2) a devil that will deceive him, (3) a hypocrite that will follow him, and (4) a believer that will envy him. I said: May I be your sacrifice! A believer that envies him? He said: O Sama`a! He is the harshest of them. I said: How is that? He said: Because he will say something against him, and he will be believed in that.

“I once wrote to abu Muhammad (a.s.), and asked, ‘A man had a canal in a village and another man wanted to dig another canal in a village that belonged to him. How much distance is required between the two so that they do not harm each other when the land is solid or soft? He (the Imam) signed the answer that said, ‘It is according to a measure that does not cause one to harm the other, by the will of Allah.’ I wrote to him (the Imam) (a.s.), about a man who had a flour mill on the canal of a village that belonged to a man and the owner of the village wanted to divert the water to his village in another canal and put the flour mill out of work; if he can do so. He (the Imam) (a.s.), signed the answer that said, ‘He must be pious before Allah and act according to what is acceptable among people and must not cause harm to his believing brother.’”