Neighborliness is a cultural and religious value – Mehr News Agency Iran and world’s news
According to Mehr’s reporter, the twenty-fourth episode of “Istgah” television program was devoted to the topic of “Neighborhood and Neighbor”. The guest of this episode of the program was Ramin Khorsand, sociologist and urban identity researcher.
At the beginning of the program, the host told a little about the memories of his childhood neighborhood and then went to the people on the street and asked them to name three of their neighbors and answer the question of how much they are trusted and how much respect they have with them. how big is it
Sociologist Khorsand answered the question of whether the term voluntary wall work is the right term, and said: Walling, voluntary is the right term, but as long as it does not take away the freedom and discretion of the neighbor, it means that what happens in the house is within the same framework of the house. to remain and not to be dragged out of the house. If I want to say this matter more precisely, it is that the house and housing means a place of safety and peace, in addition to the safety, peace and respect of the neighbors, so if we do something that deprives them of comfort, we can no longer say that it is a wall, optional.
He added: “If the fight and argument in a house is normal, it is not permissible to intervene, but if the intensity of the fight and argument is such that it threatens the life of the person, we must intervene to protect the person.” By normal I mean the level that there is no danger to life. In the case of mediation, if a person knows the principles of this work, he can later do it with the aim of helping and doing good, which in religious literature, this work of mediation is also rewarded.
He continued: We also have a phenomenon called social indifference. This phenomenon is a mental defensive solution that arises unconsciously in a person to comfort himself, while if this phenomenon continues, it can isolate the person and the family. Of course, most of the arguments and fights that take place in homes today happen in big cities where people are under pressure. Social indifference.
This urban researcher continued: Neighbor is a beautiful literary word that means two families that share a shadow. In our Persian literature, the shadow is a symbol of support, so if neighbors and neighborhood relations are formed on a proper basis, a kind of belonging to the place occurs and families living in a place feel supported.
He added: Having such feelings gives meaning to today’s lives and reduces the sense of rejection that many of us have in big cities. If we consider our neighbors as our own family and feel responsible towards them, the feeling of social indifference that we mentioned will not occur. Of course, the location of neighborhoods is also important in this case, because some neighborhoods are more homogeneous and face-to-face meetings between neighbors are more frequent. Some places are not like that. For example, one of our neighbors once caught a thief.
Khorsand said about the constructive interaction with the neighbor: There are many interpretations and traditions about the issue of constructive interaction with the neighbor, and even in our religious literature, this issue has been discussed a lot. An example is the emphasis of the Prophet (PBUH) on the good relationship with the neighbor; Therefore, an orbital neighbor is a cultural-religious value. There are a number of rights in the neighborhood. Like we should respect each other, cover up faults, keep secrets and not hurt him. It means that we should not do anything that causes annoyance to the neighbor.
He added: In the neighborhood, we should treat each other with a friendly face and at least greet each other. We should be with them in sadness and happiness and behave so that they feel that we support their dignity and if they ask us for help and we are able to do so. In general, two neighbors should trust each other and not be strangers to each other.
This expert said: One of the ways that can help improve relations between neighbors is the neighborhood system and structure. A neighborhood is a social unit – a place where a group of families with a common cultural identity live together and use a number of common services such as a neighborhood park, a neighborhood mosque, etc. Now, if the neighborhood system is correct, in some of these common places, there will be more face-to-face relationships and meetings, and an identity will be formed among the residents, who will become “we, the residents of the neighborhood…” This means that everything in the neighborhood belongs to all those people. There is still a collective “my” identity in many of the older neighborhoods, because the structure of that neighborhood exists, and it is true, while in the new urban development, the neighborhood system has been distorted and apartments have replaced independent houses, and the stability of the level of communication is very low.
This sociologist said: In order to create a proper neighborhood system, both the people themselves and the urban planning officials should help to establish a neighborhood that has a proper structure. In non-metropolitan cities, the system of independent houses and non-apartments should be maintained. In the past, because the neighbors knew each other, if a neighbor had a work problem, they would work together to solve the problem while preserving everyone’s reputation. Now charities have taken the place of not knowing the neighbors and they are killing them.
Khorsand said in the end: choosing which neighborhood to live in depends on the meaning we attach to life. It really depends on how we define life. As a rule, where people have a sense of responsibility and happiness towards each other, it will be a more attractive environment to live in.