BUKIT MERTAJAM, Aug 29 2026 — Muslims have been urged to strengthen mutual love and respect and to stop speaking ill of one another, in line with the Islamic principle of Mahabbatul Muslimin, or brotherhood among Muslims.
Islamic classical text scholar Tuan Guru Syeikh Wazir Che Awang al-Makki said the duty was an individual obligation (fard ain) under the teachings of Prophet Muhammad, not a collective duty (fard kifayah) and not merely recommended (sunnah).
“Every one of us is obligated to love our fellow Muslim brothers. This means that whatever good we want for ourselves, we must also want for our fellow Muslims,” he said.
“Just as we do not want bad things to happen to ourselves, we must also not want bad things to happen to our Muslim brethren.”
He was speaking yesterday at the Permatang Pauh Grand Maulud at Masjid Jamek Tengah Berapit in Bukit Mertajam, Penang. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also attended the event.
Syeikh Wazir, named the National Maulidur Rasul Figure for 2026/1447H, cited the hadith: “La yu’minu ahadukum hatta yuhibba li-akhihi ma yuhibbu linafsih” — “None of you is a true believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”
“According to the Prophet’s saying, ‘La yu’minu’, there is no faith at all. Even if we claim to have faith, it is incomplete. Therefore, a person who does not love his fellow Muslim has no faith at all,” he said.
“A person whose daily life is spent reviling, criticising, slandering and cursing fellow Muslims, wishing ill upon them, waking up in the morning and during prayer times to abuse Muslims, declaring them apostates or disbelievers — this is not a true believer.”
He said faith would remain absent from the heart so long as Muslims harboured hatred toward their brethren, taught it to others and passed those influences to the young.
The principle, he added, was reinforced by the Quranic verse “Innamal mu’minuna ikhwah” — “Indeed, the believers are brethren.”
“Believers are like siblings born of the same parents. We, as believers, are brothers and sisters from the same father and mother.
“If we love our brother because he is our own flesh and blood, then we are equally obligated to love our fellow Muslim as our own flesh and blood. We must not slander, revile, curse or speak ill of them.”
Syeikh Wazir described love among Muslims as one of the three main foundations of Islam, after the duty to love Allah and Prophet Muhammad. He also stressed the obligation to respect non-Muslims.
“We must also respect non-Muslims who are willing to live together with us, be our neighbours and trade with us,” he said.
Syeikh Wazir, 78, is Kelantan state chairman of Muafakat Pondok Se-Malaysia. A native of Tumpat, he lived in Makkah from the age of 11 and returned to Malaysia in 1980 after more than 20 years. He has since preached and taught in Kelantan.
He studied at Madrasah Darul Ulum Addiniah, Madrasah Rahmaniah Mutawasitah and Madrasah Saulatiyah Ahnawi A’li in Makkah, and holds a Master of Arts in Islamic Sociology from Karachi University, Pakistan.
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