Islam is a religion of justice and compassion.\u00a0 It teaches morality and forbids bad conduct.\u00a0 Special status has been afforded to the elderly; they are treated with respect and dignity.\u00a0 Muslims are urged to honour them and this is especially true when it comes to the treatment of parents.\u00a0 Although death may take us at any age, parents are often elderly and as such require special care and attention.\u00a0 Even though the rigours of old age may cause parents to be demanding , impatient or petulant, \u00a0a Muslim is still obligated to treat then with kindness and to look after them lovingly.\u00a0 God linked honouring parents to the command to believe in Him Alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWorship God and join none with Him (in worship); and do good to parents\u2026\u201d (Quran 4:36)<\/p>\n
One of Prophet Muhammad\u2019s companions asked about the deeds God loved most.\u00a0 The Prophet replied, the prayer offered on time and honouring parents<\/em>…\u00a0 (Saheeh Bukhari) <\/em><\/p>\n The sayings of Prophet Muhammad abound with words of wisdom about the obligation to be dutiful and kind to parents.\u00a0 He was once heard to say:<\/p>\n \u201cMay he perish, May he perish, may he perish\u201d.\u00a0 Those around him immediately asked whom he was referring.\u00a0 Prophet Muhammad replied, \u201cHe whose parents (one or both) attain old age in his life and he does not enter Paradise (because of his goodness towards them).\u201d\u00a0 (Saheeh Muslim)<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Respect for parents is a key to the gates of Paradise.\u00a0 By upholding the commands of God and giving parents the affection and love due to them, we receive the reward of eternal bliss.<\/p>\n There are many ways a Muslim can continue to honour and respect his or her parents after their death.\u00a0 He may pray and make supplications for God to show mercy towards them; he may pay any worldly debts they may have accumulated or debts owed to God such as fasting or making the pilgrimage (Hajj); and he may also give charity in their name.\u00a0 Keeping the ties of kinship and friendship are also ways of continuing to show love and respect to parents after their death, and Islam carefully explains what actions on the part of the living may be beneficial. \u00a0The Prophet said,<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a person dies, all his deeds come to an end except three: ongoing charity, beneficial knowledge (which he has left behind), or a righteous child who will pray for him.\u201d (At Tirmidhi)<\/em><\/p>\n A man from among the companions asked Prophet Muhammad,<\/p>\n \u201cIs there anything left from the goodness I owe my parents I should present to them after their death?\u201d\u00a0 He replied, \u201cYes, four things: Pray and ask forgiveness for them.\u00a0 Fulfil their pledges.\u00a0 Be kind to their friends.\u00a0 And maintain the ties of kinship that come from only their direction\u201d. (Ahmad, Abu Dawood &ibn Majah)<\/em><\/p>\n Thus, it is understood that the kindness and gratitude we are obliged to show our parents should be continued even after their death.\u00a0 Prophet Muhammad also told us about a man raised to a very high station in Paradise.\u00a0 The man was surprised and asked how he achieved such a noble position.\u00a0 He was informed,<\/p>\n \u201cBecause your son prayed for your forgiveness\u201d. (Ibn Majah)<\/em><\/p>\n Life in the 21st<\/sup> century is hectic, and we are often overwhelmed by worldly concerns; so much so, we tend forget that morals and manners are a large part of this way of life that is Islam.\u00a0 Kindness to parents is an obligation and we would do well to remember and to emulate the behaviour of the first Muslims.\u00a0 They held their parents in high esteem, they loved and cherished them by following the commandments of God and knew that paradise really did lie at the feet of mothers.\u00a0 These were not just words to our predecessors; they were the keys to paradise.<\/p>\n In the narrations of Prophet Muhammad, we are able to observe the behaviour of Abdullah, the son of Omar ibn al Khattab.\u00a0 On the road to Mecca, Abdullah met a Bedouin.\u00a0 He greeted him with peace, had him ride the mount that he was riding and gave him the turban that he had been wearing on his head.\u00a0 One of Abdullah companions commented, \u201cMay God guide you, they are just bedouin and they are content with something simple.\u201d\u00a0 Abdullah answered, \u201cThe father of this man was a close friend of my father, and I heard the Messenger of God say, \u201cThe best way of honouring one\u2019s parents is for the son to keep in touch with his father\u2019s friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Islam recognises the importance of the family unit, and a good and loving relationship between parents and children is essential.\u00a0 After God, our parents deserve our gratitude and obedience.\u00a0 A Muslim is obligated to show goodness and mercy to his or her parents.\u00a0 There is only one exception to this, if parents expect their children to associate anything with God or to do something regarded impermissible in Islam, then the child must not obey, however nothing removes the obligation to be kind and respectful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Islam is a religion of justice and compassion.\u00a0 It teaches morality and forbids bad conduct.\u00a0 Special status has been afforded to the elderly; they are treated with respect and dignity.\u00a0 Muslims are urged to...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[27,29,41,67,69],"class_list":["post-210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ethics-in-islam","tag-ethics","tag-human","tag-moral","tag-morality","tag-paradise"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=210"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210\/revisions\/211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/investigate-islam.com\/web\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Beneficial Actions<\/h2>\n
The Keys to Paradise<\/h2>\n