Bismillah: In the name of Allah the Most Merciful
For Muslims, everyday is Mother’s Day. This is because motherhood
in Islam is an important responsibility, deserving of the highest respect.
Although Islam stresses the importance of devotion to both parents, mothers
are given a clearly superior status. A man once approached Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and asked, “Who is most
entitled to be treated with the best companionship by me?” The Prophet(pbuh) replied, “Your mother.” The
man inquired, “Then who?” “Your mother,” the Prophet(pbuh) replied. “Then who?” inquired
the man. “Your mother,” was the reply. “Then who?” asked the man. “Then your father,”
replied the Prophet(pbuh).
In Islam, motherhood begins before the birth of the child, at the moment
of conception. And the process of birth–from conception, during pregnancy, throughout labour and delivery–is defined
as a “jihad” (spiritual effort or struggle). Hence a woman who dies in childbirth is a martyr, promised the immediate
reward of Paradise.
And according to the Prophet(pbuh), “when she delivers, not a mouthful
of milk flows from her...but that she receives...the reward of one good deed. And if she is kept awake by her child at night,
she receives the rewards of one who frees seventy slaves for the sake of Allah.”
The Prophet(pbuh) has related that on the day that Allah created the
heavens and the earth, He endowed the earth with a portion of His Mercy equal to the space between the heavens and the earth,
and it is because of this portion of mercy–which the Creator infused directly into women’s essence–that
mothers show affection for their children. Appropriately the Arabic term for womb (rahm) shares the same root as Allah’s
name “Ar-Raheem”, the Most Merciful.
Hence, according to Islam, a mother possesses more than the biological
features necessary to bear children: her whole being is endowed with the qualities necessary to nurture her child into a full,
radiant human being. She forms the first connecting link between her child and God, and between the child and the surrounding
world. She embodies the qualities of affection and mercy necessary to establish a basis of love and trust in the child’s
heart, leading to confident faith in God and to nobility and generosity among fellow creatures.
In response to the great sacrifices rendered by mothers, children–especially
sons–must be respectful, obedient and kind to their mothers. This elevated status endures with time: according to the
Prophet(pbuh), the person with the greatest right over an adult man is his mother. This is a responsibility all Muslims have
towards their mothers, whether their mothers are Muslim or not, provided that they do not command something directly in conflict
with obedience to God.
The Quran commands: “O mankind! Revere your Guardian-Lord, Who
created you from a single person, created his mate of like nature, and from this pair scattered countless men and women. Revere
Allah, through Whom you demand your mutual (rights), and revere the wombs (that bore you); for Allah ever watches over you.”(4:1)
Pleasing a mother is a gate open to Paradise, displeasing her is a gate
open to Fire. And caring for her in her old age has been assigned to grown sons as their “jihad.” For once a man
came to the Prophet(pbuh) wishing to join him in a military campaign. The man said, “O Messenger of Allah, I want to
give my life in the path of God and I have come to ask your advice.” The Prophet(pbuh) asked, “Do you have
a mother?” “Yes,” the man replied. “Then stay with her,” said the Prophet(pbuh), “because
Paradise is under her feet.”
Barbara (Masumah) Helms
(Courtesy of the Standard Freeholder, May 13, 2006, published under the title “Mother’s
Day every day”)
