Allah describes how to treat parents in the Quran as follows: ” And We have commanded people to ˹honour˺ their parents. Their mothers bore them through hardship upon hardship, and their weaning takes two years. So be grateful to Me and your parents. To Me is the final return.”[1]
As seen in the verse above, Allah states that a person should show gratitude to his/her parents after Him. For this reason, a person should be grateful to them for a lifetime, even thinking about how much pain his/her mother felt when giving birth to him/her.
Details of how to behave towards parents are given in the following verse: “We have commanded people to honour their parents.”[2] A child’s relationship with his parents should be built on the basis of good behavior. This good behavior needs to be explained a little more:
“And your Lord has decreed that you worship not 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. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, “My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small.”[3] The good deeds of Allah clearly stated in these verses can be listed as follows:
- when they get old,not to talk in a way that hurts them.
- Not to speak to parents in a way that breaks their hearts, no matter what age they are.
- Talking with parents by adopting a method they will like while communicating with them.
- To show mercy and humility to parents.
- Making them feel safe and comfortable when they get older.
- Praying to Allah about them.
In the Quran, it is mentioned that some people have rights over the wealth that a person earns. Among these people, parents come first: “They ask you ˹O Prophet in˺ what ˹way˺ they should donate. Say, “Whatever donations you give are for parents, relatives, orphans, the poor, and ˹needy˺ travellers. Whatever good you do is certainly well known to Allah.”[4]
Finally, it is seen that among the prayers that are shown as examples for Muslims in the Quran, prayers are also made for parents: ” Our Lord! Forgive me, my parents, and the believers on the Day when the judgment will come to pass.”[5] For this reason, children should pray to their parents.
[1] Luqman,14
[2] Al-‘Ankabut, 8
[3] Al- Isra, 23-24
[4] Al-Baqarah,215
[5] Ibrahim, 41