Hand is my soul, none of you truly believes until he loves for his brother the good he loves for himself,” and other such rights arising from faith that one believer owes another—then these rights are obligatory by virtue of faith itself. Committing oneself to them is like committing oneself to prayer, zakah, fasting, and Hajj; making a covenant to uphold them is like making a covenant to fulfil what Allah and His Messenger have made obligatory. Every believer owes these rights to every other believer, even if they have not entered into a pact of brotherhood.

If, however, the intention is to establish a particular legal effect, as existed between the Emigrants and the Helpers, then the scholars hold two positions, depending on whether that arrangement has been abrogated. Those who hold that it has been abrogated—such as Mālik, al-Shāfiʿī, and Ahmad according to the better-known report from him—say that this is not religiously prescribed. Those who hold that it has not been abrogated—such as Abū Hanīfah and Ahmad according to the other report—say that it is religiously prescribed.

As for the “conditions” to which many people commit themselves in “samāʿ” (listening sessions) and elsewhere, such as saying, “On condition that we share in good deeds, and whichever of us is saved on the Day of Resurrection, his companion will also be saved,” and similar statements, these are all invalid conditions. For on that Day the earth belongs to Allah. It is:

“The Day when no soul will have any power to help another.”

And, as the Most High says:

“You have certainly come to Us individually, just as We created you the first time, leaving behind all that We had bestowed upon you. We do not see with you your intercessors whom you claimed to be Allah’s partners in your affairs. The bonds between you have been severed, and what you used to claim has deserted you.”

Likewise, they stipulate conditions concerning worldly matters but do not fulfil them.