The present world is referred to as an era of information and media. The West has developed its media to the extent that it can easily transmit any information or disinformation across the glob within a friction of seconds. The West has not only propagated against Muslims, but has overwhelmed us with its culture and civilisation through brazen and ruthless use of its 'media weapon.' The onslaught unleashed by the Western media has gifted our new as well as old generations with events like 'Mothers Day', 'Fathers Day' and 'Valentine Day' etc while snatching our own revered and valuable festivals. On the other hand, our inconsiderate rulers too started officially celebrating Hindu galas like 'Basant'. This blind replication of alien traditions has not only dragged us away our own Islamic culture, but has forced us to spend millions to highlight others' cultures.
Mothers Day was celebrated on May 8. We would attempt to present our point of view on the status of mother in the light of the Holy Quran and Hadith. Also we would present decrees of the contemporary Muftis regarding the Mothers Day.
Mothers' importance and greatness cannot be denied. Mother is perhaps the most beautiful gift in this world and on Mothers Day individuals pay glowing tributes to their mothers. In the beginning, the Mothers Day was first celebrated in Greece while it was celebrated in 1600 in Britain and was termed as Mothering Sunday.
In the United States, Julia Wardhard proposed to celebrate this day as peace promotion day in 1872. And a grand ceremony was held at Houston. In 1907, Enajaros launched a campaign to celebrate this day at the national level in Philadelphia. He and his friends wrote letters to ministers, industrials and politicians. Thus a national holiday was announced on this day that was set to be celebrated in the second week of May.
Mothers Day is celebrated across the world with considerable preparations. And on this Day every child greets her or his mother. The day is being specifically encouraged in Pakistan. The Quran on eminence of mother says:
1. "We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents; in pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth" (46:15).
2. "Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in terms of honour. And out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: 'My Lord! Bestow on them Thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood' "(17:23-24).
3. "We have enjoined on man and woman kindness to parents; but if they (either of them) strive (to force) thee to join with me anything of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not'" (29:8).
4. "We have enjoined on man and woman (to be good) to his/her parents; show gratitude to me and to thy parents; to me is (thy final) Goal. If they (parents) strive to make thee join in worship with Me things of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not; yet bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration) and follow the way of those who turn to Me (in love)" (31:14-15).
THE HADITH SAYS:
1. Prophet Muhammad said, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him: Your Heaven lies under the feet of your mother (Ahmad, Nasai).
2. A man came to the Prophet and said, 'O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet said: Your mother. The man said, 'Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, 'Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, 'Then who?' The Prophet said: Then your father. (Bukhari, Muslim).
3. Abu Usaid Saidi said: We were once sitting with Rasulullah when a man from the tribe of Salmah came and said to him: O Messenger of Allah! Do my parents have rights over me even after they have died? And Rasulullah said: Yes. You must pray to Allah to bless them with His Forgiveness and Mercy, fulfil the promises they made to anyone, and respect their relations and their friends (Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah).
4. Abdullah ibn Umar related that the Messenger of Allah said: The major sins are to believe that Allah has partners, to disobey one's parents, to commit murder, and to bear false witness (Bukhari, Muslim).
5. It is narrated by Asma bint Abu Bakr that during the treaty of Hudaibiyah, her mother, who was then pagan, came to see her from Makkah. Asma informed the Messenger of Allah of her arrival and also that she needed help. He said: Be good to your mother (Bukhari, Muslim). Your Mom, Your Mom, Your Mom A man came to the Prophet and said, 'O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet said: [Your mother]. The man said, 'Then who?' The Prophet said: [Then your mother.] The man further asked, 'Then who?' The Prophet said: [Then your mother]. The man asked again, 'Then who?' The Prophet said: [Then your father.]. (Bukhari, Muslim). Islamic scholars and Muftis: First of all, it goes without saying that every committed Muslim is supposed to pay his parents, especially his mother, due respect. One should try to show dutifulness to one's parents, even if they happened to be non-Muslims, let alone being Muslims.
What Islam goes against is to imitate non-Muslims by marking a special occasion such as celebrating the Mothers' Day in a way that shows that mothers do not deserve due respect and care save on this very day. If we are going to make the whole year a Mother's Day, then Islam welcomes celebrating the occasion with open arms.
Indeed, Muslim scholars have maintained various opinions regarding the issue. Here below we will attempt to furnish you juristic views as regards this issue: First of all, Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi, deputy chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, states: Dutifulness to parents, especially the mother, and treating them kindly is an act of worship enjoined in both the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Being dutiful to parents is not confined to a specific time. It is an obligation that should be observed every time, as all people commonly know. Yet, the Mothers Day, as it's known nowadays is a Western habit.
The Westerners specified a day and called it the Mothers Day. On that day sons and daughters show gratefulness to their mothers and offer them presents. It has become part of important feasts in the West, whereas we Muslims have no other festivals except the lesser and the Greater Bairams. Any other celebrations are deemed mere occasions or anniversaries; and this is applied to the Mothers Day.
The Mothers Day implies paying more attention and exerting more effort in expressing gratitude to mothers. So there is nothing wrong in that. However, there are two reservations worth mentioning; first, considering the Mothers Day a feast; second, confining the task of showing dutifulness to mothers to that specific day, giving implication that throughout the whole year, just only one day is for showing love to parents.
If such two anomalous points are addressed, then there is nothing wrong in considering the Mother's Day a chance to give more care to mothers. Thus, we may take the Mothers Day as a chance to lay more emphasis on our duty towards our mothers, as Islam enjoins us, because dutifulness to parents is a genuine Islamic teaching. But Muslims, in doing that, should never deviate from the Islamic teachings; they should do things in Islamic manners, not in Western manners. Hence, they would not be imitating the non-Islamic habits of the West. Hence, viewed in juristic perspective, we can say that celebrating the Mothers Day is controversial among the contemporary scholars. While a group of them consider it Haram (unlawful) as a kind of blind imitation of the Western non-Islamic habits, which have no benefit for Muslims, another group see it Halal (lawful) on condition that showing gratitude and dutifulness to parents should not be confined to that day only. Moreover, the well known erudite scholar Sheikh Yusuf al Qaradawi states: The Arab tends to blindly follow the West in their celebration of the Mothers Day, without trying to understand the wisdom behind inventing such an occasion. When the European found that children do not deal properly with their parents nor give them their due right, they resorted to specifying an annual occasion for children to remedy the situation. But in Islam, mothers are to be given due respect and love every time, not only one day a year.
For example, when one goes out, he kisses one's mother's hand seekinng her pleasure and blessing. A Muslim must not allow any gap between him and his mother, he must offer her presents every time. This indicates that Muslims can dispense with such an occasion, the Mothers Day. Unlike the case in the West, where it's a vogue for some children to show indifference to their mothers' feelings, and, what's more, it is so common to see some parents being dragged to infirmaries (as their kids have no time for them), dutifulness to parents in Islam, alongside with worshipping Allah, is a sacred duty.
In this concern, Almighty Allah says: (And we have commended unto man kindness toward parents. His mother beareth him with reluctance, and bringeth him forth with reluctance, and the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months, till, when he attaineth full strength and reached forty years, he said: My Lord! Arouse me that I may give thanks for the favour wherewith Thou hast favoured me and my parents, and that I may do right acceptable unto Thee. And be gracious unto me in the matter of my seed. Lo! I have turned unto Thee repentant, and lo! I am of those who surrender (unto Thee). (Al-Ahqaf 46: 15).
Reflecting on the aforementioned Qur'anic verse, we find it stressing both parents' right, but reviewing the following verses we find them paying special care to the mother and tackling the hardships she suffers in pregnancy, fosterage and rearing children. In this verse, Almighty Allah informs man of the debt he owes his mother since he was a fetus, passing by the process of childbirth, infancy, childhood until he comes of age.
A child normally forgets the hardship which his mother underwent during pregnancy. Hence Almighty Allah draws his attention to such hardships, laying emphasis on her great status in Islam. Finally, Dr Abdul Fattah Ashoor, Professor of Qur'an Exegesis at Al-Azhar University, concludes: Holding celebrations in honouring others and commemorating anniversaries are neither feasts nor Islamic. But one may seize any chance to express gratitude to those who deserve it.
This is how we should consider the Mothers Day. The mother has a special place in the Islamic culture, and all other civilised cultures. So it is something good to do anything to please her and show gratefulness to her. So dedicating a day to showing good feelings towards parents, especially the mother, is by no means blameworthy as it does not contradict the Islamic teachings, nor can it be merely considered a form of joining the Western vogue of making celebrations.
Conversely, it is a kind of devotion to Allah's orders that we should be dutiful to our parents.
The author is Editor-in-Chief of South Asian News Agency (Sana)
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