Rights of Motorists

I had almost given up blogging, except for a small incident which happened a few days ago & which motivated me to write this post. While patiently moving at a snail's pace during the afternoon rush hour, this realization dawned on me that maybe the "Road Warriors" see law abiding drivers as donkeys. Yes you read it right, donkeys. How?

Who are the road warriors? They are the rash drivers who show no respect for fellow road users. Especially more so during this Holy month of Ramadan since most of the offenders are Muslims. Imagine people driving on the hard shoulder and yellow lane & then trying to push their way into the proper lane before an exit or a traffic signal. And by the way, this rude behavior is not just limited to male species, even our females have also mashallah become experts in this. Is this what fasting teaches us?

Fasting is supposed to teach us patience, care & respect for others. But it seems that for most of us, the real spirit of Ramadan only means attacking the food the moment Muazzin says athan. Few months ago, I wrote about the Rights of Neighbors. I will quote few excerpts from that post here:

The preacher said that neighborhood is not limited just to houses. For a trader, the traders around him are his neighbors. For a worker, his co workers are his neighbors. For a student, his class mates are his neighbors. For a traveller, the people sitting around him in a bus, train or a plane are his neighbors. For a village, the villages around it are its neighbors. For a city or province, the cities and provinces around it are its neighbors. For a country, the countries around it are its neighbors.

Also I had mentioned these two ahadith:

Narrated by Abu Hurairah (R.A.) the Prophet (PBUH) said,

"By Allah, he is not a true believer, By Allah, he is not a true believer, By Allah, he is not a true believer (three times). He was asked 'Who?" Upon which he replied, "The one whose neighbors do not feel secure from his mischief and evil"

Narrated Jabir (R.A.), the Prophet (PBUH) is reported to have said

"The neighbor with three rights is the neighbor who is a Muslim and a Relative (he has a claim as a neighbor, as a fellow Muslim and as a relative). The neighbor with two rights is the neighbor who is a Muslim (as such he has a claim as a neighbor as well as a fellow Muslim) and the the one with only one right is a non-Muslim neighbor (he has claim as a fellow human being)".

Drive safely & respect the rights of your neighbors (fellow motorists in this case). May Allah guide all of us to His right path :-)