This is one of the most convincing things
about Islam - the treatment of women in general and especially the high
position mothers hold in Islam.
Amongst the clearest examples of Islam's
honoring women is the great status of the mother in Islam. Islam
commands kindness, respect and obedience to parents and specifically
emphasizes and gives preference to the mother as shall be shown in this
article. Islam raises parents to a status greater than that found in any
other religion or ideology.
The command to be good to one's parents begins right from the Qur'an. Allah says:
"Worship God and join not any partners with Him; and be kind to your parents..." [Noble Quran 4:36]
The mention of servitude to parents follows immediately after servitude to God. This is repeated throughout the Qur'an.
"Your Lord has decreed that you worship
none but Him and that you be kind to parents. Whether one or both of
them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of contempt,
nor repel them, but address them in terms of honor. And out of kindness,
lower to them the wing of humility and say, "My Lord! Bestow on them
Your Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood." [Noble Quran
17:23-24]
The great scholar, Abu al-Faraj Ibn Al-Jawzî (d. 1201CE) explained:
To be kind to one's parents is: to obey
them when they order you to do something, unless it is something which
Allah has forbidden; to give priority to their orders over voluntary
acts of worship; to abstain from that which they forbid you to do; to
provide for them; to serve them; to approach them with gentle humility
and mercy; not to raise your voice in front of them; nor to fix your
glance on them; nor to call them by their names; and to be patient with
them. (Ibn al-Jawzî, Birr al-Wâlidayn)
The Qur'an emphasizes the great struggles
the mother goes through for her child, to highlight the need for one to
reciprocate their parents sacrifice for them:
"And We have enjoined on man [to be good]
to his parents: in travail upon travail did his mother bear him and his
weaning was over two years. Be thankful to Me and to your parents, unto
Me is the final destination."[Noble Quran 31:14]
The renowned exegete, Shaykh Abdur-Rahman As-Sa'di (d. 1956), says about this verse:
{And to your parents} meaning, be kind to
your parents, shower on them love, affection and piety, both in words
and deeds, treat them with tender humility, provide for them and never
harm them verbally nor physically. [...] Then, Allah mentions the reason
why we should be kind to our parents, when He says {His mother bore him
in travail upon travail}, that is, the mother bore constant suffering;
in pain and hardship from the first moment she felt the child moving in
her womb to the worst pangs during the time of delivery. And {his
weaning is for two years}, that is, during these two years the mother
breast-feeds her child and looks after him/her. So after all the years
of suffering, hardship, love and care, could we not, at least,
compensate our mothers for what they have done for us and pay them back
their rights? (Taysîr al-Karîm ar-Rahmân fî Tafsîr al-Kalâm al-Manân)
The Qur'an repeats its mention of the struggles of the mother in yet another passage:
"And We have enjoined upon man, to his
parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave
birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning [period] is
thirty months. [He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches
[the age of] forty years, he says, "My Lord, enable me to be grateful
for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and
to work righteousness of which You will approve and make righteous for
me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the
Muslims." [Noble Quran 46:15]
In connection to this passage, the late Grand Mufti of Pakistan, Shaykh Muhammad Shafy (d. 1976) wrote:
Mother has more rights than father
Although the first part of this verse is a command to do good to both
the parents, the second sentence refers only to the hardships suffered
by the mother, because they are unavoidable, and no child can be born
without them. Every mother has to go through the problems of pregnancy
and severe pains of delivery. As against this, it is not necessary for a
father that he suffers any hardship in bringing up and educating the
child, if he can afford to pay somebody else for these services. This is
why the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) has given more rights
to the mother than anybody else. According to a hadîth he has said,
"Do good to and serve your mother, then
your mother, then your mother, then your father, then the near relatives
and then those who come after them."[Mazhari]
"And his carrying and his weaning is in thirty months"[Noble Quran 46:15]
This sentence too describes the hardships
suffered by the mother for her baby. It points out that even after
suffering hardships during pregnancy and the severe labor pains, the
mother does not get respite from toils, because the natural food of the
infants is in her breasts, and she has to suckle them. (Shafy, Ma'âriful
Qur'ân [Eng. trans.], vol. 7, pp. 795-796)
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings
be upon him) continually used to remind his followers of the status of
the mother and the obligation of being good to one's parents. The
following narration is a beautiful example of the noble position of the
mother:
A man came to the Prophet and said: O
Messenger of Allah! Who from amongst mankind warrants the best
companionship from me? He replied: "Your mother." The man asked: Then
who? So he replied: "Your mother." The man then asked: Then who? So the
Prophet replied again: "Your mother." The man then asked: Then who? So
he replied: "Then your father." (Sahîh Bukhârî 5971 and Sahîh Muslim
7/2)
Commenting on this hadith, Shaykh Muhammad Ali Al-Hashimi notes:
This hadith confirms that the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him) gave precedence to kind treatment of
one's mother over kind treatment of one's father (Al-Hashimi, The Ideal
Muslimah, IIPH 2005, p. 165)
Likewise, the late Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Shaykh Abdul-Azîz Ibn Bâz (d. 1999) comments on this hadith saying:
So this necessitates that the mother is
given three times the like of kindness and good treatment than the
father. (Majmoo' Fataawaa wa Maqalat Mutanawwi'ah)
He also writes:
The secret of her importance lies in the
tremendous burden and responsibility that is placed upon her, and the
difficulties that she has to shoulder - responsibilities and
difficulties some of which not even a man bears. This is why from the
most important obligations upon a person is to show gratitude to the
mother, and kindness and good companionship with her. And in this
matter, she is to be given precedence over and above the father.[...]
And I have no doubt that my mother - may Allah shower His mercy upon her
- had a tremendous effect upon me, in encouraging me to study; and she
assisted me in it. May Allah greatly increase her reward and reward her
with the best of rewards for what she did for me. (Majmoo' Fatawa wa
Maqalat Mutanawwi'ah)
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) also said in a famous narration:
'Paradise lies at the feet of your mother' [Musnad Ahmad, Sunan An-Nasâ’i, Sunan Ibn Mâjah]
What can be greater evidence of honoring
women than this? Islam has effectively placed the ultimate reward for
human beings in their devotion to their mothers.
Shaykh Ibrahîm Ibn Sâlih Al-Mahmud writes:
Treat your mother with the best
companionship, then your father; because paradise is under the mother's
feet. Never disobey your parents, nor make them angry, otherwise you
will live a miserable life in this world and the hereafter, and your
children will treat you likewise. Ask your parents gently if you need
something. Always thank them if they give it to you, and excuse them if
they do not, and never insist on a matter if they refuse to give you
something. (Al-Mahmoud, How to be kind to your Parents, p.40)
It is related from Talhah ibn Mu'âwiyah as-Salamî who said:
I came to the Prophet and said, "O
Messenger of Allah, I want to perform Jihad in the way of Allah. He
asked, "Is your mother alive?" I replied, "Yes." The Prophet then said:
"Cling to her feet, because paradise is there." (at-Tabarânî).
Shaykh Nidhaam Sakkijihaa comments:
Cling to her feet means to submit
yourself to her, be close to her, protect her, serve her because in this
is Paradise and with her satisfaction you will enjoy the good blessings
of Allah. (Sakkijihaa, Honoring the Parents, p. 52)
The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings
be upon him) showed us the importance of serving one's parents in the
following narration reported by Abdullah Ibn Mas'ud:
I asked the Prophet, 'O Messenger of
Allah, what is the best deed?' He replied 'Prayer offered on time.' I
asked, 'What is next in goodness?' He replied, 'To be dutiful and kind
to one's parents.' I further asked, 'What is next in goodness?' He
replied, 'Jihad in the Allah's cause. [Sahîh Bukhârî, Sahîh Muslim]
Just as the Prophet said that kindness to
one's parents was of the best deeds, he also said that disobedience to
them was amongst the major sins:
"The greatest sins are to associate
partners in worship with Allah, to be undutiful or unkind to one's
parents, to kill a soul forbidden by Allah and to bear false witness."
[Sahîh Bukhârî]
Even after the Prophet Muhammad (peace
and blessings be upon him), the Muslim scholars continued to stress the
importance of being dutiful to one's mother. By examining the conduct
and teachings of the early Muslim scholars, one may see how the direct
recipients of the Islamic message understood the command to be dutiful
to one's parents. Their behavior towards their parents shows Muslims how
one is to implement the teachings of the Prophet on honoring parents.
Abdullah Ibn Abbâs (d. 687CE), a
companions of the Prophet and a great scholar of Islam, considered kind
treatment of one's mother to be the best deed for strengthening or
rectifying one's relation with God. He said:
I know of no other deed that brings
people closer to Allah than kind treatment and respect towards one's
mother. [Al-Adab al-Mufrad Bukhârî 1/45]
An even more powerful example is found in
the statement of another one of the Prophet's companions, Abdullah Ibn
'Umar (d. 692CE), who was also a great scholar of Islam. It has been
related that:
Abdullah Ibn 'Umar saw a Yemeni man
performing Tawâf (circumambulating the Ka'bah) while carrying his mother
on his back. This man said to Abdullah Ibn 'Umar, "I am like a tame
camel for her! I have carried her more than she carried me. Do you think
I have paid her back, O Ibn 'Umar?" Abdullah Ibn 'Umar replied, "No,
not even one contraction!!" [Al-Adab al-Mufrad Bukhârî 1/62]
SubhânAllah (Glory be to God)! The
efforts of a man who carries his mother on his back while performing
tawâf cannot even repay his mother for a single contraction that she
went through for him. Wise indeed was Ibn 'Umar's reply to this man to
show him how massively indebted he was to his mother. This is the
tremendous value and prestigious position of mothers in Islam!
Yet another example is found in the following prophecy of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him):
There will come to you with
reinforcements from Yemen a man called Uways ibn 'Âmir of the clan of
Murâd from the tribe of Qaran. He had leprosy but has been cured of it
except for a spot the size of a coin. He has a mother and he has always
treated her with kindness and respect. If he prays to Allah, Allah will
fulfill his wish. If you can ask him to pray for forgiveness for you,
then do so. [Sahîh Muslim 16/95]
Indeed, later on 'Umar ibn al-Khattâb met
Uways who was exactly as the Prophet described, and upon 'Umar's
request Uways prayed for him. Commenting on this narration, Shaykh
Muhammad Ali Al-Hashimî writes:
What a high status Uways reached by
virtue of his kindness and respect towards his mother, so that the
Prophet recommended his Sahabah [companions] to seek him out and ask him
to pray for them!
All of this indicates the high status to
which Islam has raised the position of motherhood, and given the mother
precedence over the father. At the same time, Islam has given importance
to both parents, and has enjoined kindness and respect to both.
(Al-Hashimi, The Ideal Muslimah, IIPH 2005, p. 167)
So great was the Islamic emphasis on
parents, that the Muslims considered a great opportunity to attain
paradise in service to one's mother. Iyâs Ibn Mu'âwiyah was a famous
Islamic scholar from the second generation of Muslims. When his mother
died, Iyâs Ibn Mu'âwiyah cried. He was asked, "Why do you cry?" He said,
"I used to have two gates open to Paradise, now one of them is closed."
Zayn al-'Abidîn (d. 713CE) was the great
grandson of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and
also a renowned scholar. He used to treat his mother with so much
kindness and love as seen in the following narration:
Once he was asked, 'You are the most kind
person to his mother, yet we have never seen you eating with her from a
single dish.' He replied, 'I fear that my hand would take the what her
eyes have already seen in the dish, and then I would be disobeying her'.
[At-Tartushi, Birr al-Wâlidayn]
In other words, he was so careful not to
disobey his mother that he would even avoid eating out of the same plate
as her; He thought that she would see a morsel and intend to take it,
but before she did he might unknowingly take that same morsel and eat
it. This is how careful he was to obey his mother in the most minute
details.
Another early Islamic scholar, Sa'îd Ibn
Al-Musayyib (d. 709CE), was asked about the meaning of the verse "but
address them in terms of honor" (17:23). Sa'îd Ibn Al-Musayyib replied:
It means that you should address them as a servant addresses his master.
Muhammad Ibn Sirîn (d. 729CE) used to
speak to his mother in a very soft voice, out of respect for her. He was
also often seen in the company of his mother and looking after her.
(Ibn al-Jawzî, Birr al-Wâlidayn)
All that has preceded shows how the
status of mothers - and consequently that of women - is elevated to the
highest position in Islam. The honor Islam has given to mothers is
beyond that found in any other religion, ideology or culture. This is
clear proof of the lofty status of Muslim Women.
Post a Comment