As-Salaam Alaikum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakatuhu

Praise be to Allaah, we seek His help and His forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allaah from the
evil of our own souls and from our bad deeds. Whomsoever Allaah guides will never be led
astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is no
god but Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Your Parents are your Paradise and they are your Hell

DUTIES TOWARDS PARENTS
The Holy Quran and Sunnah have laid great emphasis on meting out the treatment to the
parents. Serving the parents well has been declared as a highly virtuous act and a great asset on
this world as well in the HereaIter, Our parents deserve our greatest regard obedience and
service aIter Allah and His Messenger. Almighty Allah has decreed:

"Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Allah, and that you be kind to
parents."

The spiritual and moral duties are not brought into juxtaposition. We are to worship none but
Allah, because none but Allah is worthy oI worship. Here we are asked to show kindness to our
Iather and mother. It means parental love should be to us a type oI divine love, Our spiritual
advancement is tested by this. We cannot expect Allahs Iorgiveness iI we are rude or unkind to
those who unselIishly brought us up.

Hadrat Abdullah Ibn Masud (Allah be pleased with him) states: " I submitted to the Messenger
oI Allah ( peace and blessings oI Allah be upon him) as to which act Allah likes best."
The Messenger oI Allah ( peace and blessings oI Allah be upon him) said: " The prayer
offered in time."
Hadrat Abdullah Ibn Masud (Allah be pleased with him) submitted: " Whats it that Allah likes
next best?"
The Messenger oI Allah ( peace and blessings oI Allah be upon him) said: " Good treatment
of your mother and father."
Hadrat Abdullah Ibn Masud (Allah be pleased with him) again submitted: The Messenger oI
Allah ( peace and blessings oI Allah be upon him) said: " 1ihad in the way of Allah."
(Bukhari, Muslim)

Hadrat Abdullah Ibn Masud (Allah be pleased with him) reports: " One day a person come
to the Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) and submitted:
" By giving my hand into your hand I swear allegiance Ior perIorming Hijrat and Jihad and I
beseech reward Irom Allah in return Ior this."
The Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) enquired: " Is one of
your parents alive."
He submitted: " Yes, praise be to Allah, both my Iather and mother are alive."
Thereupon, the Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) observed: " Do
you really want to get a reward from Allah for performing Hijrat and 1ihad?" the man
submitted: " Yes, indeed I beseech reward Irom Allah in return Ior these acts."
The Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) observed: " Go then.
Attend to your parents and serve them well." (Muslim)
Hadrat Abu Umama (Allah be pleased with him) reports: "A man enquired Irom the Messenger
oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him): "O Messenger oI Allah (peace and
blessing oI Allah be upon him)! What are the rights oI parents over their children?"
The Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) said: " Your parents are
your Paradise and they are your Hell." (Ibn Majah)

Everyone should keep showing his gratitude to his parents all the time. It is the basis oI good
manners and a Iundamental principle oI liIe. They are to be considered as the practical source
oI nourishment and physical existence. We grow up to adulthood under their loving and tender
care. They oIIer supreme and unparalleled sacriIices in bringing up their children to perIection.
Recognizing the hardships and diIIiculties undergone on the upbringing oI their children.
Almighty Allah raises their status so much that He ordains His servants to render their thanks to
Him Iollowed by their thanks to their parents. The Holy Quran says: " And We have enjoined
on man (to be good) to his parents."
One should, thereIore, keep highest regard Ior the Ieelings and desires oI his parents. Every
possible care should be taken that their Ieelings are not hurt and their wishes and desires do not
go unIulIilled. They mighty grow short-tempered and peevish and my become careless
regarding the Ieelings oI their young ones. However, their children should never pay them in
the same coins. They should put up with even their unusual demands cheerIully and silently,
without any complaint or annoyance.
Hadrat Abu Saeed khudri (Allah be pleased with him) reports that a person visited the
Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) Irom Yemen.
The Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) enquired Irom him: " Do
you have any relatives at Yemen?"
He submitted: "Yes, my Iather and mother are there." Thereupon, the Messenger oI Allah
(peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) asked: " Did they give you permission to depart?"
He submitted: "No, I didnt seek their permission."
The Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) observed: " Go back and
seek permission of your parents. Come back and join 1ihad in case they agree, otherwise
serve them." (Abu Dawud)

Hadrat Ibn Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger oI Allah (peace and
blessing oI Allah be upon him) observed:
" The man who gets up in the morning after having discharged his duties concerning his
parents, he will find the two gates of Paradise open for him in the morning; in case there
is only one parent, the person will find one door of Paradise open for him; On the
contrary, if a man gets up in the morning after having disregarded any duties laid upon
him by Allah concerning his parents, he will find two gates of Hell open from him in the
morning; in case one of the parents is alive, the man will find one gate of Hell open for
him."

Your wealth and riches are the property oI your parents and hence spend on them with an open
hand.
They Holy Quran says: " They ask you concerning what they should expend. Say: whatsoever
you expend oI wealth (let it be) Ior the parents.." (Al-baqrah -215)

Once a person come to the Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) and
lodged a complaint that this Iather took Irom him as much wealth as he wanted. The Messenger
oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) sent Ior the complainant's Iather. An old,
inIirm man come walking with the help oI a stick. When the Messenger oI Allah (peace and
blessing oI Allah be upon him) asked him about the complaint oI his son, the old man
submitted:
" O Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him)! There was a time when I
was strong and he was weak and helpless. I had money and he was empty-handed. I never
Iorbade him then to lay his hands on anything that I possessed. Today, he is strong and healthy
and I am old and inIirm. Now he has money and I am empty-handed. He now denies me access
to his goods."
Having heard this tale oI woe oI the old man, the Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI
Allah be upon him) burst into tears and remarked addressing the son oI the old man: " You and
your wealth and property belong to your father." (abu Dawud)

Treat your Iather and mother well even iI they are non-Muslims. But, however, your reIuse to
obey them in case they ask you to indulge in acts oI polytheism and other sinIul acts.
The Holy Quran says: " We have enjoined one man kindness to his parents: In pain did his
mother hear him, and in pain did she give him birth. They carrying oI the (child) to his weaning
is (a period oI) thirty month." (Al-AhqaI - 15)

Although both Iather and mother deserve respect and good treatment, but the natural weakness
oI the mother and the pain and hardships borne by her give her more right on you and she needs
your service and devotion more in comparison to your Iather.

The Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) has emphasised this Iact on
a number oI occasions.
Hadrat Abu Hurairah ( Allah be pleased with him) reports: " A man visited the Messenger oI
Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) and submitted: " O Messenger oI Allah (peace
and blessing oI Allah be upon him)! Who deserves the best treatment Irom me --- my Iather or
mother?"
The Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) observed: " Your
mother."
He again submitted: " And next?" The Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be
upon him) observed: " Your mother."
Third time also he received the same reply. When the man repeated his question Ior the Iourth
time, the Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) observed:
" Your father." (Al- Adabul MuIrad)

Hadarat Jahma (Allah be pleased with him) visited the Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing
oI Allah be upon him) and submitted: " O Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be
upon him) I have come to seek your guidance Ior joining the Jihad."
The Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) interrogated: " Is your
mother alive?"
Jahma ( Allah be pleased with him) submitted: " Yes, she is alive." Thereupon the Messenger
oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) said: " Go back to her then and serve
her, for Paradise lies under her feet." (Ibn Majah, Nasa'i)

Hadrat Awais ( May Allah show His mercy) was a contemporary oI the Messenger oI Allah
(peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) but he never got an opportunity to call on the
Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him). In spite oI the burning desire in
him to visit the Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) had Iorbidden
him to come to him. He could not even perIorm Hajj till his mother was alive. (Ibn Majah)
Foster mother also deserves respect and devotion.
Hadarat Abu TuIail ( Allah be pleased with him) reports: " I once was the Messenger oI Allah
(peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) distributing meat at a place called Jarana.
Meanwhile a lady appeared on the scene. The Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah
be upon him) showed her respect and spread out his sheet Ior her to sit on. I enquired Irom the
people. " Who is this lady?"
The people told me: " This lady is the Ioster mother (Halima) oI the Messenger oI Allah (peace
and blessing oI Allah be upon him)." (Abu Dawud)

Hadrat Abu Hurairah ( Allah be pleased with him) reports that the Messenger oI Allah (peace
and blessing oI Allah be upon him) observed:
" Death deprives a person of the opportunity to perform anything more, yet three things
continue to be of benefit to him even after death --- a charitable act which continues
benefiting people; knowledge that keeps spreading; and pious offsprings who continue to
offer prayers and invoke mercy of Allah upon him." (Abu Dawud)

It is incumbent upon the oIIsprings to IulIill the contracts, promises and will made by their
dead parents. Their parents might have taken a vow; they might have owed a debt to somebody
but Iailed to repay beIore death; they might have made a will beIore their death. Thus their
oIIsprings owe a responsibility to IulIill all such demands aIter their death.


Hadrat Abdullah bin Abbas (Allah be pleased with him) stats: " Hadrat Saad bin Ubada (Allah
be pleased with him) submitted to the Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon
him):
" O Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him): My mother had taken a
vow: but she departed beIore she could IulIill it."
"May I carry out her vow?" The Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon
him) observed: "Why not! You must fulfill the vow on her behalf." (Abu Dawud)

Friends oI Iather and mother too deserve due respects. Seek advice guidance Irom them and
what they give in the Iorm oI advice should be honoured.
Once the Messenger oI Allah (peace and blessing oI Allah be upon him) remarked:
" There is no better act of piety than what a man does with the friends of his father in the
form of good behaviour." (Ibn Majah)

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ur Lord' Accept (this service) from us. For you are the All-Hearing, the All-knowing.
(Al Quran 2.127)

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