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,
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.
