Honoring Parents in Islam... A Gate to Paradise

I am writing today about my mother — but each one of you will read it as though I am speaking about your own mother. Did Spencer not say that everyone cries at funerals, but each one cries over his own loss?

So whoever sits reading this article and still has his mother, take advantage of what remains of her days, lest a time comes when you no longer finds her, nor finds anything to replace her.

And if she is elderly, or sick, or bothers you with her many requests — remember that if she needs you today, you were once more in need of her. And if she asks you to give her from your wealth, she gave you of her very self and her body.

She carried you in her womb, you were a part of her, feeding off her blood, then she delivered you with pain, as if her soul were being ripped away.

Have you seen a woman in her ninth month of pregnancy? Her stomach is stretched before her, unable to walk from the heaviness, unable to sleep? Even if you have not seen childbirth with your own eyes — have you not heard her screams of pain? Do you not know what she suffers and endures?

If a person caused you even one-tenth of this pain, you would turn away from him and abandon him, that’s if you chose not to take revenge and harm him. But the mother — only moments after the child is born — forgets her pain. She presses him to her chest, feeling as if the soul that almost left her has been returned. She offers him her breast so he may drink her life, gaining strength through her weakness, becoming healthy while she wastes away, or Allah grants her strength from Him so she does not weaken or waste away, and he grows and flourishes.

Mother’s Unimaginable Love for Her Child

And if you become impatient with your mother’s long life, hiding that deep inside and denying it with your tongue, she once saw in you her very life.

If you smiled, she felt the world smiling at her, and her hopes coming true.
If you cried, her heart cried and her day turned dark.
If you fell sick, she abandoned her sleep and forgot her food — watching over you through the night until you were well, then continuing to care for you all day.

If you loved her with all your heart, you would still not repay even one percent of the love she gave you.

Your Father: The Silent Sacrifice Behind Your Happiness

If you have an elderly father in need of you, remember that he exhausted himself so you could rest, and struggled so you could be happy.

He earned wealth only for you, and sacrificed his past so your future would be secured. He would return from work exhausted and worn, and you would run into his lap saying: “Daddy!” spreading out your tiny arms to hug him. He would forget the fatigue and hardship, feeling as if all joys were gathered for him and all troubles pushed away.

Remember: every day added to your life reduced your parent’s lifespan.
You reached your youth only because theirs faded away, and you gained strength only as theirs turned into weakness.

So when you become a grown man, is this the reward you give them? Neglect and denial?

Will You Not Honor Your Parents?

A person raises a dog, and the dog remains loyal, a donkey, and it does not kick him.
He feeds a cat, and it does not bite him.

Some even tame the cubs of lions, tigers, and wild beasts — they grow attached, come close, and lick his hand as a sign of gratitude.
But parents devote their entire lives to their child — and they forget their favor and deny their rights?

How astonishing! Shall dogs, donkeys, cats, and tigers be more loyal than a human being?!

You may find people who show you more affection than your mother or father, but some love you for your money, or your beauty, or your status and comfort.

If wealth disappears, beauty fades, or hardship strikes — they turn away and no longer know you.

But the ones who love you for who you are, who never stop loving you no matter what changes in your life are your mother and father.

You will not find anyone like them, not even wives.

Yes, among wives there are loyal, righteous, patient, content women — who do not abandon a man even if he becomes sick, loses his health, becomes poor, or losses his status and is deserted by people.

But that is found in some wives. As for mothers, it is found in all of them, without exception.

Whoever has a mother or a father, a gate of Paradise has been opened for them.

So who would pass by a gate of Paradise that is open before them… but refuse to enter it?!

You May Also Read:

• Deeds Allah Loves Most
• Book Review: “The Family as Desired by Islam” by Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
• From Motherhood to Nation-Building

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Taken from the book: “Dhikrayat (Memories)” by Ali Al-Tantawi.