← PreviousNext →

There is nothing, perhaps, more important in Islamic teachings after one’s obedience to Allah and His Messenger than one’s obedience and proper treatment to one’s mother. The Quran and Sunna mention and stress repeatedly the importance of one’s duty and obedience to his/her mother.

The Mother in the Quran:

In chapter 17 of the Quran, in verse 23, Allah mentions that He has decreed that we treat our parents well, and stresses on this treatment when they reach old age. He forbids us from saying even ‘uff,’ in a sign of being tired from listening to one’s parents, and He commands us to speak to them in gentle and kind words.

In chapter 31, in verse 14, Allah repeats the importance of obeying one’s parents, and emphasizes the importance of the mother. He describes the period of childbearing as increasing weakness upon weakness. And He goes on to remind us of the two-year period of weaning, and commands us to be grateful to Him and to our parents.

And in chapter 46, in verse 15, Allah repeats the importance of obedience to parents again, and stresses once more on the hardships the mother endures in the upbringing of her children. He mentions the early days of childbearing and upbringing, reminding us of the hardship our mothers go through in raising us.

The Mother in the Sunna:

The Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) stressed on numerous occasions the importance of the mother. In one hadith, he stresses that the mother is the most deserving person of one’s fine treatment. A companion asked him who is the most deserving of a fine treatment, and he replied “Your mother.” The companion asked, “Then who.” And the Prophet replied again, “Your mother.” The companion repeated the question, and the Prophet replied again with the same answer.

In one hadith, the Prophet Muhammad commanded a man who requested to join the Muslim army to return to his parents and put his best effort in serving them. The Prophet first asked him, “Are your parents living?” When he replied by “Yes”, the Prophet said, “You should put in your best efforts (in their) service.”

In another hadith, the Prophet mentions that one’s treatment of his/her parents may be the reason for one’s entry or prevention of entry into Heaven. He said, “Let him be humbled in to dust. Let him be humbled into dust.” The companions asked who he was referring to. The Prophet Muhammad replied, “He who sees either his parents during their old age or he sees both, but he does not enter Paradise.”

The above verses and hadith are but a fraction of the words written in the Quran and Sunna of the major importance of one’s treatment towards his/ parents, and especially towards his/her mother. With the spread of senior-citizen compounds and with the distractions of daily life, it is important that we remind ourselves of these verses and hadiths as to avoid upsetting our parents and to improve their well-being and happiness, both for Allah’s sake and for theirs.

View the Original article

In April of this year, Saadiq Long, a 43-year-old African-American Muslim who now lives in Qatar, purchased a ticket on KLM Airlines to travel to Oklahoma, the state where he grew up. Long, a 10-year veteran of the US Air Force, had learned that the congestive heart failure from which his mother suffers had worsened, and she was eager to see her son. He had last seen his mother and siblings more than a decade ago, when he returned to the US in 2001, and spent months saving the money to purchase the ticket and arranging to be away from work.

The day before he was to travel, a KLM representative called Long and informed him that the airlines could not allow him to board the flight. That, she explained, was because the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) had placed Long on its "no-fly list", which bars him from flying into his own country.

Long has now spent the last six months trying to find out why he was placed on this list and what he can do to get off of it. He has had no success, unable to obtain even the most basic information about what caused his own government to deprive him of this right to travel.

He has no idea when he was put on this list, who decided to put him on it, or the reasons for his inclusion. He has never been convicted of any crime, never been indicted or charged with a crime, and until he was less than 24 hours away from boarding that KLM flight back to his childhood home, had received no notice that his own government prohibited him from flying.

As his mother's health declines, he remains effectively barred from returning to see her. "My mother is much too sick to come visit me, as she has difficulty now even walking very short distances," Long told me in an interview Sunday in Doha, the sleek, booming capital city of America's close Gulf ally, where the former Senior Airman and Staff Sergeant has lived for several years.

"I don't understand how the government can take away my right to travel without even telling me," he said. What is most mystifying to him is that he has spent the last decade living and working, usually teaching English, in three countries that have been very close and compliant US allies: Egypt, United Arab Emirates, and now Qatar. "If the US government wanted me to question or arrest or prosecute me, they could have had me in a minute. But there are no charges, no accusations, nothing."

As compelling as Long's story is, it is extremely common.

Guardian, 5 November 2012

View the Original article

Although Britain has not introduced a full ban on face veils, unlike France, against veil practices take place in the British society every now and then.

As a living example, a British mother was banned from a college parents’ meeting because she was a veiled Muslim.

Maroon Rafique was refused to enter Manchester College as the staff told her that her face covering in not allowed. Mrs. Rafique had to phone her husband Abdul, to replace her in the parents’ meeting with their 18-year-old son Awais, while she sat in the lobby of the campus.

Officials at Manchester College said that all students and visitors are asked to keep their faces visible for “safety and security” reasons.

Mrs. Rafique, 40, who has worn the full veil for seven years, said,

“I’m born in this country and British. Why should what I wear offend anyone? I didn’t want to make any fuss. All I wanted was to find out the information to help my son go to university. I offered to sit at the back or at the front, anywhere where I wouldn’t be seen, if they thought I was going to offend anyone. I was really upset because whenever I’ve visited the college before and there’s never been a problem; in fact the tutors have been welcoming and friendly.”

Mrs. Rafique added, “I do get abuse every now and again in the street – which I just have to deal with. However, I was very surprised when I was treated this way by the college.”

Business student Awais said: “It was really embarrassing when they told her she couldn’t come in. We’ve never, ever been told about any rule about what parents can wear.”

A spokeswoman for Manchester College tried to defend this policy,

“The Manchester College provides a safe and inclusive environment that fosters development and achievement.” We apply a single dress code to all college users, including learners and visitors. At all times we need to be able to identify all individuals easily in order to maintain safety and security and therefore we ask that faces are clearly visible whilst indoors. Our dress code is reviewed through our quality improvement group and we will take this situation into account at the next review.”

In March, a British Muslim woman was barred from serving on a jury because she refused to remove her veil. The presiding judge told her that she could not sit on an attempted murder trial because her veil concealed her facial expressions.

The issue of face-covering veils has been debated all across Europe. Britain has showed the highest tolerance and respect to human freedom among the European countries. It refuse to ban face veil with some officials even saying that this is UN-British.

Today Islam is the second largest religion in the country. The Muslim Council of Britain says Muslims in Britain are about 2.5 million but only less than one per cent of Muslim women wear face veil.

Between 2001 and 2009, Islam was the fastest growing religion Britain, with the Muslim population increasing roughly 10 times faster than for the rest of society.

View the Original article