Every human being is born with the existence of parents and every person must gave a good parents who is still there with us or who is gone. Parents can be said as the most meritorious in our lives since every human being exist because parents and they are always looking after us and take care of us from childhood. Islam itself is a religion that upholds devotion to parents or known as birrul walidain. So what are the importance of devotion to parents in Islam?
Read the following explanation :
The Meaning of Birrul Walidain
Birrul walidain originated from the world al birr which in Arabic means goodness, while it opponent ie al ‘uquuq means ugliness or can be interpreted as an act of wasting other people rights. The world walidain that meants is reffering to parents or person who has a nasab (family ties or blood ties) or direct blood realtions with someone ie. in this case is father and mother.
Nevertheless, it also includes the nasab over the father and mother and other persons related with that person’s nasab. Read also : The importance of respecting your parents in Islam
Birrul walidain can be interpreted as a good deed on the parents or in other words is a devotion to the parents. As mentioned by Urwah bin Zubair that a person should always obey his parents and do not disobeyed them in the least. That statement is based on the surah Al-Isra verse 24 which reads,
“And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy.”
The Basic Law of Birrul Walidain
Allah SWT Himself always commands His servants to be devoted the parents as mentioned in His commandments in the following Al-Qur’an :
a. QS Al-Isra
“And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Wheter one or both of them reach old age (while) with you, say not to them (so much as). “uff,” and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, “My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up (when i was) small.”
(Al-Isra : 23-24)
b. QS Al-Ahqaaf
“And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning (period) is thirty months. (He grows) until, when he reaches maturity and reaches (the age of) forty years, he says, “My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of whic You will approve and make righteous for me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims.”
(Al-Ahqaaf : 15) [AdSense-B]
c. QS Luqman
“And We have enjoined upon man (care) for his parents. His mother carried him, (increasing her) in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the (final) destination.”
(Luqman : 14)
From those verses it is clear that Allah SWT commands His servants to always devoted and do good to their parents even Allah tied the command of tauhid (unity of God) with the command to do good to both of our parents. This indicates that devotion to parents is something very important to be done by a Muslim. Also read : Effective prayer for parents health
The Importance of Devotion to Parents
Not only is the ccommand for Muslims to obey and do good to their parents but devoting parents have some virtues. Among the virtuous of devotion to parents are as the following : [AdSense-A]
1. Devotion to Parents as same as Jihad (struggling or striving in the path of Islam)
In one of hadith of Rasulullah, mentioned that the command to devote to parents is as important as jihad. As explained in the following hadith :
“From Abdullah ibn ‘Amru ibn al-‘Ash, may Allah bless to both of them, he said : “there is a man facing Rasulullah SAW and that man said : I baiat to you to follow hijra and jihad in the hope of seeking the reward of Allah. Rasulullah later asked : do you still have both parents (mother and father) who are still alive or one of them? that man answered correct (i still have both mother and father) event they are still alive, th Prophet asked do you want to seek reward from Allah? he (that man) replied : true. Then Rasulullah said : go back to your mother and father and accompanied them by doing good to both of them.”
(Hadith of Muttafaqun ‘alaih)
2. The Deed Beloved by Allah SWT
Not only Rasulullah who loves the behaviour of birrul walidain but Allah SWT also love the deed. This is mentioned in one of the hadiths of Rasulullah SAW which reads :
“It is narrated that Abi-Abdurahaman Abdullah ibn Mas’ud asked Rasulullah SAWT, what deed is the most beloved by Allah SWT? then Apostle replied : prayed on time, then i asked again, what deed again? Apostle answered birrul walidain (or devotion to parents), which later i asked again, what deed again? Apostle replied : jihad in the way of Allah SWT.”
(Hadith of Muttafaqun ‘alaih)
Also read : Benefits of good deeds in Islam
3. The Pleasure of Allah Depends on The Parents Pleasure
It is mentioned in a hadith that the pleasure of Allah SWT is depends on the pleasure of the parents and the wrath of Allah SWT also depends on the wrath of the parents. Therefore as Muslims, indeed we realize that what gets the pleasure or blessing of parents in everything is an important thing. Rasulullah SAW, said :
“The pleasure of Allah is in the pleasure of both parents (father and mother), and the wrath of Allah is in the wrath of both parents.”
(Hadith of At-Tirmizi)
See also : how to get blessing from Allah
4.An Ease in Every Affairs
It must known that maybe if someone has difficulties in his life is because he is rebellious to both of his parents and if someone gets the goodness and ease in his affair is probably from his own good deeds and devotion to his parents. Therefore, a Muslim should always be devoted to the parents and try to take care of them as good as possible so that Allah SWT is willing to remove all the difficulties experienced by that person. [AdSense-C]
5. Expanded His Fortune and Extended His Life
As we know that silaturahmi (good relationship) can expand fortune and lengthen the person’s age and the most important silaturahmi is a silaturahmi with parents and always do good to them. If parents stay away from their children then the children should always try to make a communication with them and visit them at a time to ensure their conditions.
6. Earned a Reward of Heaven and Kept Away from Calamity
A child who does an evil or disobedience to his parents then heaven is haram (forbidden) for him and vice versa those who are devoted to his parents, Allah SWT promises a heaven for them.
Not only that, the sins committed by a person in the world may be rewarded in the hereafter but he sins that done by the child to his parents in the world, the punishment not only in the hereafter but it hastened in the world itself.
In other words the punishment will always given to those who are disobedience to their parents, while those who are devoted to their parents will always kept away from calamities by Allah SWT. See also : how to gain forgiveness in Islam
Thus the meaning of birrul walidain, the basic law and the importance of devotion to parents in Islam. Hopefully as a Muslim who always believe in Allah SWT, we can always do good and be devoted to our parents. Amin