Life-Lessons: Juz 15

Being good to the Parents

Surah Al-Isra Verse# 23-24

۞ وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ وَبِٱلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَـٰنًا ۚ إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِندَكَ ٱلْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَآ أَوْ كِلَاهُمَا فَلَا تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّۢ وَلَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوْلًۭا كَرِيمًۭا 23 

For your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And honour your parents. If one or both of them reach old age in your care, never say to them ˹even˺ ‘ugh,’ nor yell at them. Rather, address them respectfully. 

وَٱخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ ٱلذُّلِّ مِنَ ٱلرَّحْمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱرْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرًۭا 24 

And be humble with them out of mercy, and pray, “My Lord! Be merciful to them as they raised me when I was young.” 

Bismillah. 

I believe it is not just me but each one of us who cannot ignore these beautiful and yet really strict ayahs when reading juz 15.

They are about nothing else but the most important relationship after Allah and His Prophet (ﷺ) is about parents. Our Parents play a very important role in our lives. They help us to provide status and identity in society. They are the reason we came into this world. Allah Ta’ala tells us how our mothers bore us facing hardship after hardship. All the pain she went through to bring us into this world.no complains. And our fathers who financially worked hard to give us a life standard that we could enjoy our lives. When we come to imagine all of this, this is not something easy or small. Rather this is something only and only our parents would do for us with Allah’s will because of their love for us which Allah Has put in their hearts.

When this is the case Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala tells us how much care and respect our parents deserve from us. We should honor them and especially when they reach their old age we should not speak to them with words of disrespect or even give the slightest gesture that shows disrespect. Once a man came to the Prophet (ﷺ) asking his permission to take part in Jihad. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked him, “Are your parents alive?” He replied in the affirmative. The Prophet (ﷺ) said to him, “Then exert yourself in their service.” Do we see how serious is the scenario? Yet unfortunately, the majority of us take our behavior and attitude toward our parents very lightly. We not only disrespect them but God forbid, also use harsh words and disrespectful behavior. We forget all the favors they have given us. Similarly, Ibn ‘Umar R.A said, “Making parents weep is part of disobedience and one of the major wrong actions.” (Al-Adab Al-Mufrad 31)

Parents’ duties

Islam is not the religion that mentions one-way relationships. In the same notion, it has also assigned certain duties to parents that they must fulfill and if they fail to those, they are accountable too. Besides providing the basic necessities of life, Islam requires that the parents teach their children about Tawheed (Oneness of God), the Quranic commandments, the Prophets and their teachings, and the moral code of Islam according to the Quran and the Sunnah (teachings) of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ).

Life-Lessons

What do we learn from these verses? Let’s review it.

• Firstly, it is of utmost importance that we should give respect, honor, and love to our parents with all our hearts and strive to be excellent in behavior toward them. For even if we do all the good we can to them we cannot repay them for their favors to us. So at least we can strive to never upset them and always make them happy and give them their due importance and affection. 
• If we do get angry try to get out of the situation as soon as possible and always keep in mind that shaytan will provoke you to disobey your parents, but no matter what the situation is, train yourself that you will not say even the slightest word of disrespect and rather just go somewhere else for the time being until your anger goes away. 
• Also, memorize the dua mentioned in ayah 24 about parents. Make it in all your prayers. Our parents deserve much more. The least we can do is be good and kind to them and make lots of dua for them so that Allah elevates their ranks in both worlds. 
• Now some people suffer from toxic behavior from their parents. Be it be in any form. Forcing them to study to a certain extent, forced to marry someone, not allowing the child to grow or discover things at his/her own self, being abusive and passively commanding, etc. In that case, again it is upon the children to show kindness to their parents and understand their position, maybe they are suffering from something too; mental depression or financial worries, etc.  Get into a friendly dialogue with them which will inshaaAllah sort things out. And the biggest thing, make dua for such parents even more than Allah opens their hearts.

May Allah have mercy upon our parents and help us honor them in the best of manner which would help us attain Allah’s pleasure. May Allah grant them health who are alive and have mercy upon those who have passed away Ameen!

Juz 1 – Evils of Pride  | Juz 2 – He is really near, Call upon Him | Juz 3 – Purity of Intentions

Juz 4 – The Burdens of Sins | Juz 5 – Bounties in the Obedience of Prophet ﷺ | Juz 6 – Be Just |

Juz 7- Beware of Shaitan’s Plan | Juz 8 – Heart Epicenter of Eman | Juz 9 – Dunya over Deen?? |

Juz 10 – Strive in the way of Allah | Juz 11 – Allah is All-Powerful | Juz 12 – Fruits of Patience |

Juz 13 – Peace in Remembrance of Allah | Juz 14 – Don’t be Distressed…