1) Young Muslims - The Message

clearly to shun responsibility to the parents on a daily basis. This iscertainly a cruelty to the parents.)But the stricture ordained by Islam makes it clear that shrugging offthe responsibility of old parents serves as an invitation to Hell. Boththe father and mother are equal when it comes to caring for themand providing them all possible physical comforts and mentalpeace. The time that the parents need to be looked after most, is intheir old age. To serve them devotedly at that stage of their lives isthe best way of pleasing Almighty Allah. It is also one of the easiestways of attaining Paradise. Abu Hurairah, a companion of theProphet, narrated the saying of the Prophet that "a person is indeeddisgraced, who does not earn Paradise by caring for his parentsduring the life time and old age of his/her parents". (Sahih Muslim)A person once asked the Prophet, "Who has the greatest claim onme with regard to service and kind treatment?" The Prophetreplied, "Your mother and again your mother and once again yourmother. After her is the claim of your father, then that of your nearrelatives, and then of the relations next to them". (Sahih Bukhari)This shows that the claim of a mother is greater than a father overthe care that you endow upon them in their old age. Serving andobeying parents is a matter of give and take. Those who treat andobey their parents can rest assured that their children will alsoshow kindness and compassion to them. Respecting and caring theparents is a virtue of the highest order that continues to transcendgeneration after generation.It is the duty of sons and daughters to pray for the forgiveness oftheir parents after their death and treat their relatives and friendswith due respect. In the Qur’an, Muslims have been urged to prayfor the salvation of their parents as shown in the following verse:"And say, My Lord, Have mercy on both of them as they cared forme when I was little". (Sura Isra 17:24)Young Muslims, What they should know about Islam Page - 66