2. Parents’ Rights in the Qur’ān
Asthe children stepinto adulthood, parents proceedtowards oldage.
Thechildren,intheirchildhood,needtheprotectionoftheirparents;and
the parents, in their old age, need the kindness of their chil-
dren.Allah,subhanahu wa ta`ala, says:
“IfWegrant longlife toany,Wecause himtobereversedin nature
(i.e., from strength to weakness).” (36:68)
Thethreetypes ofparents' rightsmentionedearlierarebasedonthe
following verses of the Qur'ān:
YourLordhasdecreedthat youshouldworshipnoonebutHimand
thatyoushould • bekindtoyourparents;• andifoneorbothofthem
attainoldageinyourlife[andbecomeangrywithyouforsomereason],
thendonoteven saytothem‘Oh’ [incontempt],norshouldyou repel
them.Instead,youshouldaddresstheminrespectfulmanner.• Andout
ofkindness,behavewiththemhumbly.• And[prayforthemby]saying
‘MyLord! bestowupon them Yourmercy justas they cherished mein
childhood.’(17:23-24)
In many verses, the Qur'ān has combined the kindness towards the
parentssidebysidewiththeworshipofAllah.“WorshipAllahandjoin
not any partner with Him and do good to parents... ”(4:36)In verse
17:231,itsays:“AndyourLordhasdecreedthat you worship nonebut
Him, and that you should be kind to parents... ”
Obedience to the parents is a mirrorof obedience to Allah. For ex-
ample,in verse31:14-15,Allah says: “AndWeenjoinedon man(tobe
good)tohisparents...ShowgratitudetoMeandtoyourparents.ToMe
isyourreturn.Andifthey strivetomakeyoujoininworshipwithMe
thingsofwhichyouhavenoknowledge,thendonotobeythem;yetbear
themcompanyinthislifewithfairnessandconsideration.”Thelastsen-
tence means that youshould be kindto your parents even ifthey are
non-Muslims;however,youshouldnotobeythemiftheyaskyoutodo
anything against the teachings of Islam.
WefindthattheQur'ānandhadithhasemphasizedmoreontherights
of the parents than the rights of the children. Why?