Rights of Allah, Prophets, Angels & Sahaba in Islam

The foremost right imposed upon the servants of Allah is that we owe to Allah Himself, who created and preserved, as a gift to His servants, blessings of many kinds. He brought them out of error to guidance. He gave them glad tidings of diverse blessings as a reward for following the path of right guidance. 

Rights of Allah in Islam over Mankind

1. To have faith in the existence and attributes of Almighty Allah according to the injunctions given in the Holy Quran and the Traditions.
2. To adopt such beliefs, deeds, dealings, conduct and character which conform to the Quran and the Traditions and to give up those which are in conflict with the Quran and the Traditions.
3. To accord preference to Allah’s pleasure and love over the pleasure of anyone other than Allah.
4. One should not harbour love or malice for anyone, and do good or bad to anyone except for the sake of Allah.

Rights of Prophet Muhammad in Islam  

It is through the guidance of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that we came to know about the relevant features of the divine existence, attributes and facts about Allah’s pleasures and displeasures, likes and dislikes which were revealed to him through Angels. 

Many matters of worldly losses and gains, therefore, came to light through the Angels. Many Angels have been appointed to do work which are beneficial to us and they are discharging their duties with Allah’s permission. That is why Allah’s rights also include the rights due to the Prophets and the Angels.

The favours granted to us by the last of the Prophets, Muhammad being the greatest of the Prophets, his rights due to us are also the greatest. Some of those rights are:

1. To believe in the prophethood of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (P.B.U.H.)
2. To believe Prophet Muhammad is the Last Prophet of Allah.
3. To obey him in all commands and injunctions.
4. To glorify and love him from heart and soul.
5. To send him blessings and salutations (Darud & Salam) regularly.

Rights of Angels in Islam 

1. To believe in the reality of their existence.
2. To believe that they are innocent and can commit no sins.
3. To pronounce the salutary words “peace be upon them”.
4. To avoid entering a mosque after eating things emitting foul smell (e.g. raw garlic, onion, radish, betel-leave, tobacco, burning kerosene lamp, lighting match, etc. in a mosque) or emitting wind in the mosques, as these offend the Angels.

Things which Annoy Angels

There are many other acts that offend and annoy the angels and which should be avoided as much as possible, such as:

1. To keep photos and pictures.
2. To keep and tame dogs, unless this is permissible under the laws of the Shariah
3. To tell lies.
4. To delay through laziness taking bath to purify the body from coition (Ghusl-e-Janabat), thereby missing obligatory prayers.
5. To lay bare the body even in privacy without a necessity recognizable in the Shariah.

Rights of Sahaba in Islam 

The Holy Companions (Sahaba) and the members of the Prophet’s household (Ahl-e-Bait) are related to the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) by religious as well as worldly relations. Therefore, the rights of these respectable personalities are included in the rights of the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.). Some of these rights are:

1. To obey these respected personalities. 
2. To love these respected personalities. 
3. To believe that they are just and truthful. 
4. To love those who love them and to hate those who hate them.