Mini Issue / April 3, 2010
IQRA
In this Issue: What Does Islam say About Mothers
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Inspiring words— A Story of a Smile
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Keep an eye out–
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Bake sale, Mothers Day run and much more
Mothers in Islam What does Islam say about "mothers"? This is one of the most convincing things about Islam - the treatment of women in general and especially the high position mothers held in Islam. Amongst the clearest examples in Islam of honoring women is the great status of the mother. 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
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 struggle the mother goes through for her child, to highlight the need for one to reciprocate their parents and 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]
command to be good to one's parents begins right from the Qur'an. Allah (swt) says:
The renowned exegete, Shaykh Abdur-Rahman As -Sa'di (d. 1956), says about this verse:
"Worship God and join not any partners with Him; {And to your parents} meaning, be kind to your and be kind to your parents..." [Noble Quran 4:36] 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 The mention of servitude to parents follows imme- verbally nor physically. Then, Allah mentions the reason why we should be kind to our parents, diately after servitude to God. This is repeated where He says {“His mother bore him in travail throughout the Qur'an. upon travail”}. That is, the mother bore constant suffering; in pain "Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but and hardship from the first moment she felt the Him and that you be kind to parents. Whether one child moving in her womb to the worst pangs duror both of them attain old age in your life, say not ing the time of delivery. And {his weaning is for two years}, that is, during these two years the Mini Issue -
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Mothers in Islam 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? 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.
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]
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 Treat your mother with the best companionship, Mu'âwiyah was a famous Islamic scholar from the then your father; because paradise is under the second generation of Muslims. When his mother mother's feet. Never disobey your parents, nor make died, Iyâs Ibn Mu'âwiyah cried. He was asked, them angry, otherwise you will live a miserable life "Why do you cry?" He said, "I used to have two in this world and the hereafter, and your children gates open to Paradise, now one of them is closed." 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 All that has preceded shows how the status of mothsomething. (Al-Mahmoud, How to be kind to your ers - and consequently that of women - is elevated to the highest position in Islam, the honor Islam has Parents, p.40) given to mothers is beyond that found in any other It is narrated from Talhah ibn Mu'âwiyah as-Salamî religion, ideology or culture. This is clear proof of who said: the lofty status of Muslim Women. Mashallah and Alhmadulilah. I came to the Prophet and said, "O Messenger of Shaykh Ibrahîm Ibn Sâlih Al-Mahmud writes:
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: Mini Issue -
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The Story of A Smile- and The healing hands of the to hate going to the mosque and would only go when his mother would force him to. When he would go there all he Prophet Muhammad
would see were faces of hatred and discontent. One day feeling lost and alone he found himself at the footsteps of As we move through history and that mosque. As he stood outside it, a brother of Syrian orithe chaos of our time, and amid gin appeared and he had a great big smile on his face and the chaos in places like Gaza, he was smiling right at the young man. This brother had when all they can hear is the noor (Iight) on his face and around him, metaphorically thunder of gunshots, and all we speaking. He really did, and the young man could not can hear is the thunder of mate- gather why he smiled at him and actually greeted him and rialism and greed and all they asked him how he was doing. The young man developed a could smell is the violence in the burning desire after that day to seek out this man and he air, and all we can smell is our eventually became his student and learned the basics of own lack of content. I think back and am amazed at how I Islam from him. could allow myself to loose hope whatever the circumstance in my own life be here in the land of the free and the It was a smile that brought that confused young man to the home of the brave. We all have something we are hurting light of God. A simple implementation of the practice of from and we reach out to each other as Muslims hoping our beloved Prophet Muhammad being a smile that someone will lend a helping hand. Maybe it is time to reshined the light of Islam on him. Who would have every think whether we really care or not, or are we just living thought that a smile could go so far and it came from the day to day? heart connected to the light of God. "Light upon Light." By: Faisal Ansari
And it is then that my thoughts become so clear and true, that three words run through my mind endlessly, repeating themselves like a broken record: Smiling is a charity, Smiling is a charity, smiling is a charity. His saying softening my heart somehow and seeing things differently allowing the anguish and the pain to fade like the stars at dawn. The final messenger of God named Muhammad (peace be upon him), when first learning of him it was through a smile that I became a practicing Muslim. And now when thinking of the Prophet he reminds me of a Desert Rose, a desert rose dressed tall in Red standing and illuminated by the light of the moon, his message calls to me like a siren in the night and he is a freedom to me from the evil of my soul, hope, faith and the strength to carry on and his selfless message contained the greatest gift to me and to you, a healing and a solace - the greatest gift being the love of God and a clean soul. A hope that through a smile we can end the injustice and hatred against the innocent. In every story of the Prophet Muhammad there is a reminder of how he would treat people with a soft heart, affection, concern, love, and most of all, a smile. They say that He once said something magnificent- "Even a smile is charity." A long time ago this young man in his early twenties used
It is through learning about the Prophet and how he dealt with people that we can learn to love again and treat our loved ones with respect and a kind word. It is not easy to do but it can be attained. The Prophet Muhammad who had a prayer for everything one could think of conveyed stories of how he dealt with his people including the non-Muslims, the new converts to Islam, travelers, the poor, the passerby, his friends and his loved ones and so on. And we learn from his history that he took everyone's situation into consideration and dealt with them with a gentle word and not with harshness as we are so accustomed to these days. As the Prophet said, "one who is devoid of mercy is not shown any mercy (Sahih Muslim)." I What will we do as Muslims? Let's, let the hurt go, because it is time to stop playing victim to depression, anger, hatred, guilt, and greed as our Prophet taught us to not dwell on the past.. As one scholar said, if we were tested with some of the things that Muhammad , had to deal with, then we would end up in the puzzle factory wondering what hit us. Because the problem with our new culture is that we can't handle pressure and we break at the slightest things because we live in a Prozac society of instant gratification. It is time to stop running and hiding between the shadows and the lies wherever that may be for us and to be a light to other people and make the world a better place. Mini Issue -
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Mini Issue: April 3, 2010