Golden Rule

Photo: Mojpe, Pixabay licence

Topic

“None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself” (hadith): the Muslim form of the rule of reciprocity.

What it means

The Prophet said: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Sahih Muslim), and: “Whoever wishes to be saved from the Fire and to enter Paradise should die believing in God and the Last Day and treat people as he would like to be treated” (Sahih Muslim). The Quran asks believers to give what they would love (3:92).

What the sources say

Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 7:12 and Rabbi Hillel’s negative form are the same principle, found in many traditions. Muslims see it as part of the ethics common to the prophets.