Relationship With Parents

One of the most important acts of worship that a child is instructed to do with regard to his/her parents is to obey them, and to refrain from their prohibition. The child is encouraged to hasten towards performing an action as directed by the parent as long as it does not involve disobedience towards Allah and his Messenger, because there is no obedience to any created being if it involves disobedience towards the Creator.

Allah (‘azza wa jal; The Possessor of Complete Glory and Majesty) reminds us in the Glorious Qur’an: “And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as], "uff," and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word.” [Surah al-Isra 17:23]

A ṣaḥabi’s (companion’s) father passed away and he was crying very much at the funeral. One of the other ṣaḥabah (companion) came and comforted him and tried to console him and said, “O so-and-so, I am not crying just because my father died. I know in sha Allah he is in a better place now than he was in this world. I am crying because my biggest door to Jannah has now been shut.” Think about this brothers and sisters, for those of you whose parents are alive that this is your easiest door to Jannah. This is the largest and middle door to Jannah. Think about this, and do whatever you can to help your parents to have that good relationship with them.

On the other hand, if one or both of your parents have passed away, the rights of the parents don’t end even after they have left this earth. There is so much you can do. You can make dua and istighfar (seeking forgiveness from Allah) for them. You can give ṣadaqah (voluntary charity) on their behalf, you can give udhiyah (sacred sacrifice) on their behalf, you can go for Hajj on behalf of your parents and you can do Umrah on behalf of them.

May Allah make us righteous children and righteous progeny. May Allah forgive our parents. May Allah cause us to be resurrected with our parents and be with our parents in Jannat al-Firdaws al-‘Ala – ameen!

Suggested good deed

If we are blessed to have one/both parents, make dua for them every day and try to do something for them whether it be doing the day-day chores / gifting them something small. Our parents are our gateway into Jannah. So, a heart-warming smile from them will no doubt weigh heavily on our scales of good, in sha Allah.

And if one / both of our parent have passed away, we should always make dua for their forgiveness. It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (ﷺ; peace be upon him) said: “A man may be raised in status in Paradise and will say, Where did this come from? And it will be said: From your son’s praying for forgiveness for you.” [Ibn Majah]