Being Good to Our Parents

Being Good to Our Parents

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Alhamdulillah. Assalatu Wassalamu ‘Alaa Rasoolillah, Amma Ba’d.

Honourable judges, respected elders, and my dear brothers and sisters, Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

Before I start my speech, I want to make sure I’m speaking to the right audience. So, among the audience, whoever wants to go Paradise, put your hands up. Whoever has their parents with them right now, put your hands up. And, whoever has been born or brought up in a Western society, put your hands up. Alhamdulillah, I’ve got the right audience.

So today I am standing in front of you to deliver a speech on the topic of ‘Being good to your parents’, Insha Allah.

I’ll begin my speech with a quick glance at the society, how do they be good to their parents? Most of the elderly people are neglected and regarded as a burden to society, people only appreciate their parents’ work on Mother’s Day or Father’s Day and children have no respect for their parents whatsoever, etc. A’udhubillah.

Some people might think that at least I am better than them. But let’s see what Allah (swt) says about being good to your parents. In Suratul ‘Israh, verse 23, Allah (swt) says:

وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعۡبُدُوٓاْ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ وَبِٱلۡوَٲلِدَيۡنِ إِحۡسَـٰنًا‌ۚ

Which means: And your Lord had decreed to worship none but him, and be the best to your parents.

What did Allah (swt) say? Not good, not better, but the best. Allah (swt) gives us a complete and comprehensive guideline in one word:

إِحۡسَـٰنًا‌ۚ : the best.

Which means everything we do towards our parents should be the best whether it could be politeness, humbleness, kindness, whatever the thought, action, attitude, behaviour should be the best.

If I want to explain to you in a nutshell, think, how would we behave in front of the Queen? We would be polite and kind and do what she asks right away. We must be even better than that to our parents. When they ask us to do something, we should do it right away with love, not with a long face or asking them ‘why me?’ You know what I’m talking about? Anyway, they don’t ask us to do anything for themselves, all they ask is to do our own stuff or something which benefits us. They ask us to study. Why? For a bright future when we grow up. They don’t let us watch movies. Why? To protect our brain and soul. They ask us to pray. Why? So we can become good Muslims.

In the same ayah, Allah (SWT) says:

فَلَا تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّ۬

Which means: Don’t utter the word of ‘uff’ to them.

The word ‘uff’ means ‘aww’ or groaning and grumbling. Allah says that you can’t even say ‘aww’ to your parents. We can’t even think of doing it. This is how polite we should be to our parents. It is heart-wrenching to see some people raise their voice at their parents, swear, talk back, argue with them and make fun of their accent. A’udhubillah. My dear brothers and sisters, these are not jokes! Who taught you how to speak in the first place?

My dear brothers and sisters, we all take our parents for granted. That’s why we don’t understand their value, their unconditional love and kindness and unparalleled sacrifices. Most of us don’t even appreciate what their parents do for them, and think that their parents are servants and expect their parents to do stuff for them, then find faults in them and complain. Why do you always have to make rice? Why don’t you buy me a phone? My dear brothers and sisters, even before we were born our parents sacrificed everything for us and they still are sacrificing for us. Our parents left their country, their home town, their house, their parents and everything and living here for one reason, only one reason, because of us, to give us a bright future. They curb their desires in order to attain our desires. They cry in order to make us happy. You know exactly what I’m talking about. We should take heed in when Allah tells us in Surah Luqman, verse 14:

ٱشۡڪُرۡ لِى وَلِوَٲلِدَيۡكَ

This means: Show gratitude to me and to your parents.

So we can see that our gratitude to Allah is incomplete unless we show gratitude to our parents. Subhanallah.         

We will never be able to pay back our debt to our parents. The only thing we can do is be thankful to them. My dear brothers and sisters, we should be thankful to our parents for all the things they have done for us. My dear brothers and sisters, I can understand where all these attitudes are coming from because I was born and bred in this Western society. Our society’s opinion of life is different. They want to seek out the happiness here and now. So if their parents are a barrier, blocking their way, they will disobey them or get rid of them or do whatever their mind orders them to do.

My dear brothers and sisters, we should not be trapped in this idea and opinion. The happiness can be achieved by attaining Jannah and pleasing Allah (swt). The happiness that we get here is temporary, it won’t last for long. So, what’s the point of sacrificing a eternal happiness for an temporary one?

My dear brothers and sisters, we are Muslims and Allah (swt) has already given us a perfect way of life and we don’t need to copy anybody else. All I can say is, it is a very serious matter in the sight of Allah. So what I can say in a nutshell is trust your parents and be obedient, help them, make them your best friend, treat them with the best possible manner and try to please them in every possible way and fulfil their aspirations and desires and should never hurt their feelings. Because the Prophet (SAW) said in a Hadith, ‘He who wishes to enter Paradise through its best door must please his parents.’ Subhanallah.

My dear brothers and sisters we are so lucky, we have our parents with us but there are so many orphans around the world so let’s be good to our parents before it’s too late.

Finally, I conclude my speech by asking Allah (swt)to guide us and help us treat our parents in the way that he told us to and attain the pleasure of Allah through pleasing our own parents. Ameen. Ameen. Ya rabbal ‘aalameen.