A Muslim reaps the fruits of honouring their parents in this world before the hereafter, although the reward in the hereafter is greater. Some of the most significant virtues of honouring parents in both this world and the hereafter include:
Your communication should be aligned with this command from Allah to His servants: “For your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And honour your parents. If one or both of them reach old age in your care, never say to them even ‘ugh’, nor yell at them. Rather, address them respectfully.” (Verse 23 Surah Al-Isa)
The practice of honouring parents does not cease with their death; it is an ongoing act of kindness and obedience that continues even after they are gone. Some ways of honouring parents after their death include:
Filial piety is one of the best acts Muslims offer to Allah. The virtue was outlined in verses in the Holy Quran and the Sunnah. Allah Almighty instructed us to do good by our parents in the Holy Quran, which states: “For your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And honour your parents.”
Honour for a mother received ample attention in these texts, emphasising her status. The benefits of filial duty towards a mother are as follows:
In the Sunnah, a person came to the Prophet (PBUH) and asked: “Who is most deserving of my fine treatment?” The Prophet (PBUH) said: “Your mother, then your mother, then your mother, then your father, then your nearest, then nearest.”
Allah Almighty likened praising parents to praising him, as we can see in the Surah Luqman, when Allah Almighty said: “And We have commanded people to ˹honour˺ their parents. Their mothers bore them through hardship upon hardship, and their weaning takes two years. So, be grateful to Me and your parents.”
This was further clarified by the Prophet (PBUH), when he was asked: "Which action is dearest to Allah?" He (ﷺ) replied, "Performing As-Salat (the prayer) at its earliest fixed time." The Prophet (PBUH) was then asked, "What is next (in goodness)?" He (ﷺ) said, "Kindness towards parents." The follow-up question was: "What is next (in goodness)?" He (ﷺ) replied: "To participate in jihad in the cause of Allah."
Sahih Muslim narrated that it is reported that a person came to Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and sought his permission to participate in jihad. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked, "Are your parents alive?" He replied in the affirmative. The Prophet a(ﷺ) said, "[You should] consider their service as jihad."
Abdullah b. Umar reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: “Three persons set out on a journey. They were overtaken by rain and they had to find protection in a mountain cave where, at its mouth, there fell a rock of that mountain and thus blocked them altogether. One of them said to the others: Look to your good deeds that you performed for the sake of Allah and then supplicate Allah, the Exalted, that He might rescue you (from this trouble). One of them said: ‘O, Allah, I had my parents who were old and my wife and my small children also. I tended the flock and when I came back to them in the evening, I milked them (the sheep, goats, cows, etc.) and first served that milk to my parents … And (O, Allah) if Thou art aware that I did this in order to seek Thine pleasure, grant us riddance from this trouble.’ (The rock slipped a bit) that they could see the sky.”
Abdullah b. Umar reported that: “A man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: ‘O, Messenger of Allah! I have been afflicted by a tremendous sin. Is there any repentance for me?’ He said: ‘Do you have your mother?’ The man said: ‘No.’ He said: ‘Do you have any maternal aunts?’ The man said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Then be dutiful to them’.”
Anas bin Malek reported that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said: “Whoever would like his lifespan to be extended, his provision to be increased and a bad death to be warded off from him, let him fear Allah and uphold his ties of kinship.” Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said a mother is at the top when it comes to upholding ties of kinship.
The Sunnah reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “May he be disgraced, may he be disgraced, may he be disgraced, whose parents, one or both, attain old age during his lifetime, and he does not enter Jannah (because he was not dutiful to them).”
As mentioned in the Holy Quran on the tongue of Jesus (peace be upon him): “and to be kind to my mother. He has not made me arrogant or defiant”. and so were the other prophets.
TOPThere are several reasons for prioritising mothers over fathers and others during the performance of acts of kindness, and they include:
The immense effort and hardship that a mother endures during pregnancy, birth and child-rearing. The mother struggles to protect and feed her child and stays awake to ensure their comfort. She continues doing this until the child grows up and becomes independent.
The mother is physically weaker and more vulnerable than the father, so she is given precedence in kindness.
The hardships the mother faces in bearing and raising the child are involuntary, while the father’s hardships are voluntary. The mother sacrifices her health and comfort for the sake of her child, so she is given precedence in kindness and in being supported financially when needed.
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