22. DUTY TOWARDS PARENTS

God says:

O our Sustainer, Grant Thy forgiveness unto me, and my parents, and to all believers, on the Day on which the [last] reckoning will come to pass! - Q.14: 41

thy Sustainer has ordained that you shall worship none but Him. And do good to [thy] parents. Should one of them, or both, attain to old age in thy care, never say “Ugh” [or "Uff”] to them or scold them, but always speak unto them with reverent speech, and spread over them the wings of thy tenderness and say: “O my sustainer! Bestow Thy grace upon them, even as they cherished and reared me when I was a child!” -Q.17: 23,24

Now [among the best of deeds which] We have enjoined upon man [and woman] is goodness towards his parents Q.31: 14….[hence, O man,] be grateful towards Me and towards thy parents...- Q.31: 14
Thus, gratitude towards parents, who were instrumental in one’s coming to life, is here stipulated as a concomitant to man’s gratitude towards God.

[Revere thy parents;] yet should they endeavour to ascribe divinity, side by side with Me, to something which thy mind cannot accept [as divine], obey them not; but [even then] bear them company in this world with kindness, and follow the path of those who turn towards Me. - Q.31: 15


Prophet said:

1. When asked about the rights of parents over their children the Prophet said:“They are your paradise and your hell” – H: Ibn Majah. N: Abu Omamah.

2. A man asked whether his dead mother would be rewarded if he gave alms for her. “Yes” replied the Prophet. – H: Bukhari and Muslim. N: Bibi Ayesha.

3. A man came and asked whether any obedience was possible to parents after their demise. “Yes” replied the Prophet, “ to offer prayer for them, to seek forgiveness for them, to fulfill their promises, to keep affinity with those who are related to you through them, and to honour their friends” – H: Abu Daud and Ibn Majah. N: Abu Osaid-as-Sayedi.

4. “May his nose cleave to the ground” – the Messenger of God said this three times. They asked: Whose O Apostle of God? He replied, “He who got the opportunity to serve his parents in old age – one or both of them – but failed to get himself enter the paradise.” – H: Muslim. N: Abu Hurairah.