Dear Brothers and Sisters!

The human being, the most honourable creature created by Allah (swt), comes into the world in a helpless state. Parents, who are gifted by Allah (swt) with feelings of compassion and mercy, raise their children, who are given to them and in need of every kind of help, with great effort. They watch over their children, turning their nights into days, and tolerate great hardships to earn their sustenance in a lawful manner. Indeed, the source of the compassion and mercy that parents have for their children is Allah (swt). His names, Rahmân and Rahîm, manifest in parents. For this, endless praise and thanks be to Allah (swt).

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

For a believer, the feeling of loyalty is one of the most important moral values. To feel loyalty, in the simplest and most concise sense, is to know the worth. The primary recipient of this feeling is undoubtedly Allah (swt), who created us from nothing. After Him, our eternal guide and the best example for us until the Day of Judgment is Prophet Muhammad (saw). After Allah and His Messenger, the beings most deserving of our loyalty are our parents. However, it is unfortunate that in our age, with the increase in individualism and selfishness, the sense of loyalty that children have towards their parents can be damaged. After flying out from under the protective wings of their parents, people can forget the parents who protected and cared for them in their most helpless state and can leave them in loneliness in their old age.

Yet our Prophet Muhammad (saw) said, “May he be disgraced, whose parents, one or both, attain old age during his life time, and he does not enter Jannah (by rendering being dutiful to them)” 

Dear Jama’ah!

In our religion Islam, which was revealed with the aim of being a means for the salvation of humanity, the rights of parents are considered among the most important rights. In the Holy Qur’an, it is commanded, “Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be kind to your parents. If one of them or both of them reach old age while with you, do not say to them ‘Uff!’ nor scold them, but speak to them a noble word.” 

Treating them well, not hurting them, and not even saying ‘Uff!’ to them is a clear command of our religion. We should respect our parents, support them both materially and spiritually, seek their approval, avoid speaking harshly to them, remember them with kindness after their death, and pray for them. The Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “The parent is one of the main doors to Paradise. It is up to you whether you want to lose this door or guard it.”  This emphasises that Allah’s approval of us is linked to our positive behaviour towards our parents.

Dear Brothers and Sisters!

Let us not withhold our kindness and compassion, a few sweet words, and a smiling face, respect, and tolerance from our parents. Let us strive to win their precious hearts and receive their blessings. Let us see these prayers as our blessings in this world and our means of salvation in the hereafter. When a man came to the Prophet (saw) and asked, “Which deed is the best?” the Prophet (saw) replied, “Performing the prayer at its proper time and being good to one’s parents. Then comes striving in the way of Allah.”

May Allah (swt) make us among those who are good to their parents and thereby earn His pleasure. Ameen!

¹ Müslim, Birr 9, 10

² Surah Al-Isra, 17:23

³ Tirmizî, Birr, 3

⁴ Buhârî, Tevhîd, 48.

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