The hadith about neighbours, each in Arabic with a plain English rendering, the narrator, the collection and number, and the grading. They cover not harming your neighbour, sharing food and gifts, and who counts as the closest neighbour.
مَا زَالَ يُوصِينِي جِبْرِيلُ بِالْجَارِ حَتَّى ظَنَنْتُ أَنَّهُ سَيُوَرِّثُهُ
Jibril kept advising me to treat the neighbour well until I thought he would make him an heir.
Narrated by Aishah · Sahih al-Bukhari 6014; Sahih Muslim 2624 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
مَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَلاَ يُؤْذِ جَارَهُ، وَمَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَلْيُكْرِمْ ضَيْفَهُ، وَمَنْ كَانَ يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ فَلْيَقُلْ خَيْرًا أَوْ لِيَصْمُتْ
Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not harm his neighbour. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him honour his guest. Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him say what is good or stay silent.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sahih al-Bukhari 6018; Sahih Muslim 47 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
وَاللَّهِ لاَ يُؤْمِنُ، وَاللَّهِ لاَ يُؤْمِنُ، وَاللَّهِ لاَ يُؤْمِنُ ... الَّذِي لاَ يَأْمَنُ جَارُهُ بَوَايِقَهُ
By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe! By Allah, he does not believe! (They asked: Who, O Messenger of Allah? He said:) The one whose neighbour is not safe from his harm.
Narrated by Abu Shurayh · Sahih al-Bukhari 6016 · Sahih
لاَ يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مَنْ لاَ يَأْمَنُ جَارُهُ بَوَائِقَهُ
He will not enter Paradise whose neighbour is not safe from his harm.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sahih Muslim 46 · Sahih
وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ لاَ يُؤْمِنُ عَبْدٌ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لِجَارِهِ - أَوْ قَالَ لأَخِيهِ - مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِهِ
By the One in whose hand my soul is, a servant does not truly believe until he loves for his neighbour, or he said for his brother, what he loves for himself.
Narrated by Anas ibn Malik · Sahih Muslim 45 · Sahih
يَا أَبَا ذَرٍّ إِذَا طَبَخْتَ مَرَقَةً فَأَكْثِرْ مَاءَهَا وَتَعَاهَدْ جِيرَانَكَ
O Abu Dharr, when you cook a broth, add more water to it and look after your neighbours.
Narrated by Abu Dharr · Sahih Muslim 2625 · Sahih
يَا نِسَاءَ الْمُسْلِمَاتِ لاَ تَحْقِرَنَّ جَارَةٌ لِجَارَتِهَا، وَلَوْ فِرْسِنَ شَاةٍ
O Muslim women, let no woman think little of a gift to her neighbour, even if it is a sheep's hoof.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sahih al-Bukhari 2566 · Sahih
إِلَى أَقْرَبِهِمَا مِنْكِ بَابًا
(I said: O Messenger of Allah, I have two neighbours. To which of them should I send a gift? He said:) To the one whose door is closest to you.
Narrated by Aishah · Sahih al-Bukhari 6020 · Sahih
خَيْرُ الأَصْحَابِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ خَيْرُهُمْ لِصَاحِبِهِ وَخَيْرُ الْجِيرَانِ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ خَيْرُهُمْ لِجَارِهِ
The best of companions with Allah is the one who is best to his companion, and the best of neighbours with Allah is the one who is best to his neighbour.
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr · Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1944 · Graded sahih by al-Albani
لاَ يَمْنَعُ جَارٌ جَارَهُ أَنْ يَغْرِزَ خَشَبَهُ فِي جِدَارِهِ
No one should stop his neighbour from fixing a wooden beam in his wall.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sahih al-Bukhari 2463; Sahih Muslim 1609 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
اذْهَبْ فَاصْبِرْ ... اذْهَبْ فَاطْرَحْ مَتَاعَكَ فِي الطَّرِيقِ
(A man came to complain about his neighbour. He said:) Go and be patient. (He came back two or three times, and he said:) Go and put your belongings out in the road. (He did, and people passing asked him why, and when he told them they cursed the neighbour, until the neighbour came and said: Go back home, you will never see anything from me that you dislike.)
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sunan Abi Dawud 5153 · Graded hasan sahih by al-Albani
تَعَوَّذُوا بِاللَّهِ مِنْ جَارِ السَّوْءِ فِي دَارِ الْمُقَامِ فَإِنَّ جَارَ الْبَادِيَةِ يَتَحَوَّلُ عَنْكَ
Seek refuge with Allah from a bad neighbour in a settled home, for a neighbour in the desert moves on from you.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sunan an-Nasa'i 5502 · Graded hasan sahih by al-Albani
These are often posted as hadith, but the hadith critics did not accept them as the Prophet's ﷺ words, or they are not found in the hadith books at all. Do not pass them on as hadith.
"Forty houses on each side are your neighbours."
Where: Abu Ya'la, al-Bayhaqi and others. Grade: weak as a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. It is reported as the opinion of some early scholars, such as al-Awza'i and az-Zuhri. Who counts as a neighbour is decided by custom, with the closest door first.
"Neighbours are three: one with one right, one with two rights and one with three rights."
Where: Al-Bazzar and Abu Nu'aym. Grade: weak.
Arabic: the standard wording from the fawazahmed0 hadith-api dataset of the six books and the Muwatta, cut to the Prophet's ﷺ words. English: our own plain rendering. Words in brackets are the setting, not the hadith. Muslim numbers follow Abd al-Baqi, as on sunnah.com. Pending review by the scholars on our team.
Guide
Short answer: the best known hadith about neighbours is "Jibril kept advising me to treat the neighbour well until I thought he would make him an heir" (Sahih al-Bukhari 6014, Sahih Muslim 2624). The Prophet ﷺ also said "whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not harm his neighbour" (Sahih al-Bukhari 6018), swore three times that the one whose neighbour is not safe from his harm does not believe (Sahih al-Bukhari 6016), and told Abu Dharr to add water to his broth and share it with the neighbours (Sahih Muslim 2625).
The hadith set two levels. The first is to cause no harm: no noise that disturbs, no blocking the way, no looking into their home, no gossip about them. This one is so serious that it is tied to faith and to entering Paradise. The second is to do good: gifts, food, help with the wall, a visit when they are ill, patience with what you dislike. A well-known hadith in al-Bukhari's al-Adab al-Mufrad adds: "He is not a believer who eats his fill while his neighbour beside him is hungry", graded sahih by al-Albani.
The Quran (4:36) names the near neighbour and the distant neighbour. The closest door comes first (Bukhari 6020). A neighbour who is not Muslim is still a neighbour with rights: Abdullah ibn Amr had a sheep slaughtered and asked twice whether some had been sent to his Jewish neighbour, quoting the hadith of Jibril (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1943).
The Prophet ﷺ first told the man who complained to be patient. Only when the harm went on did he let him make it public in a way that shamed the neighbour into stopping, without the man harming him back. And the Prophet ﷺ taught us to seek refuge with Allah from a bad neighbour.
For more on good character, see the hadith about kindness and Islamic values.
salah (prayer), charity (sadaqah), seeking knowledge, lying and truthfulness, tahajjud (the night prayer), kindness and mercy, patience (sabr), cleanliness and purity, intention (niyyah), marriage (nikah), parents and mothers. Or see all hadith topics.
Questions
"Jibril kept advising me to treat the neighbour well until I thought he would make him an heir" (Sahih al-Bukhari 6014, Sahih Muslim 2624), and "whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, let him not harm his neighbour" (Sahih al-Bukhari 6018).
That report is weak as a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. Some early scholars held this view, but most say custom decides who is a neighbour, with the closest door first (Sahih al-Bukhari 6020).
Yes. Abdullah ibn Amr made sure his Jewish neighbour received meat, citing the hadith of Jibril and the neighbour (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1943). The duty not to harm and to do good covers every neighbour.
Yes: "He is not a believer who eats his fill while his neighbour beside him is hungry", in al-Bukhari's al-Adab al-Mufrad, graded sahih by al-Albani.