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When the Mother has a Noble Mission
Author : Dr. Mohammad Al-Zou`bi
Date Added : 06-12-2022

 

When the Mother has a Noble Mission

 

 

All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

 

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: A person came to Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and asked: "Who among people is most deserving of my fine treatment?" He (PBUH) said: "Your mother". He again asked: ''Who next?" "Your mother", the Prophet (PBUH) replied again. He asked: "Who next?" He (the Prophet (PBUH) said again: "Your mother." He again asked: "Then who?" Thereupon he (PBUH) said: "Then your father." [Agreed upon].

 

This is so true because the mother is the one that experiences significant stress while pregnant and comes close to death when she going into labor. She is the same person that stayed up nights looking after her children and deprived herself from food to make them full. It was narrated that Mu’awiyah Ibn Jahimah As-Sulaimi said: “I came to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I want to go for Jihad with you, seeking thereby the Face of Allah and the Hereafter.’ He said: "Woe to you! Is your mother still alive?’ I said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Go back and honor her.’ Then I approached him from the other side and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I want to go for Jihad with you, seeking thereby the Face of Allah and the Hereafter.’ He said: ‘Woe to you! Is your mother still alive?’ I said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Go back and honour her.’ Then I approached him from in front and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I want to go for Jihad with you, seeking thereby the Face of Allah and the Hereafter.’ He said: ‘Woe to you! Is your mother still alive?’ I said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Go back and serve her, for there is Paradise." {Sunan Ibn Majah}. No matter what you do to your mother, it is nothing compared to her sacrifices for you.

The mother is responsible for upbringing her children to be righteous as herself because she recites the Quran and observes the five daily prayers. She raises her sons to be honest, trustful, and courageous. Similarly, she raises her daughters to be chaste, pure, decent, and Sharia-compliant. She is the maker of heroes because the poet Hafid Ibrahim said about her: "The mother is a school. If you prepared and educated her well, you will have prepared an entire nation."

 

The mother is the counterpart of the father and represents half of society. Rather, a mother is a whole nation, and this is why it was said (What means): "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." One example of this is Asma Bint Abi Baker {May Allah be pleased with them}. One time, her son came to her and consulted her about what to do with Al-Hajjaj who besieged him in Makkah. She said to him that if he was right then he should go ahead, but if he was wrong then he will perish. He said to her that he was afraid that Al-Hajaj will mutilated him. She replied by saying {what means} that skinning a slaughtered goat doesn`t harm it a bit. This is in addition to many other examples from the life of the righteous predecessors.

However, some parents are passive and play no role in the lives of their children. It is as if the children were orphaned at early age. This why one poet mentioned that some children are orphans not because their parents were dead but because they were totally absent as far as their duties towards their children are concerned.

Dear fathers and mothers,

 

Be mindful of Allah and know that your children are a trust with you and that Allah placed this responsibility on you, made you their guardians, and will hold you liable for that on the Day of Resurrection.

An educator is like a farmer who removes weeds and plants new seeds. Therefore, never neglect your children for this makes them an easy prey for your enemies, and a closer look at real life events is the best evidence on this.

Allah has spoken the truth when He Said (What means): "O ye who believe! save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is Men and Stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who flinch not (from executing) the Commands they receive from God, but do (precisely) what they are commanded." {At-Tahrim/6}. We pray that Allah protects our children, forgives our fathers and mothers, protects our homeland, and makes us among those who listen to the word and follow the best of it.

 

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

A woman became pure [from menstruation] before Fajr, but did not perform ghusl until after sunrise — what is the ruling on her fast?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Her fast is valid, since ghusl (ritual bathing) is not a condition for the validity of the fast, but rather for the validity of the prayer. However, she is sinful for delaying the Fajr prayer beyond its designated time without a valid excuse.
It is known that the time for Fajr prayer ends at sunrise. Nevertheless, she must still perform ghusl, and make up the Fajr prayer. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

"I told my family at night: 'I will fast tomorrow as qaḍā' (a make-up fast),' but I forgot to make the intention before sleeping. Is my fast valid?"

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
 
The intention is obligatory in acts of worship. For obligatory fasting, the required intention is to resolve to fast during the night [before dawn]. Its proper locus is the heart, while verbalizing the intention out loud in acts of worship is a sunnah — so that the tongue may align with the heart. If the intent behind the statement in question was the intention to fast, then it is valid; but if the intent was merely to inform someone, or reflected hesitation or doubt, then it is not valid.
 
It is stated in *Bushrā al-Karīm* (Vol.1/P.216): "It is a sunnah to verbalize the intention — that is, whatever has already been intended in the heart, whether an obligatory or a voluntary act — such as specifying the number of rak‘ahs, just before the opening takbīr — so that the tongue may assist the heart, and because this is further removed from whispered doubts (waswasah), and in order to accommodate the view of those who held it obligatory in every act of worship that requires an intention (even though this is a minority position), by analogy with Ḥajj."
 
Accordingly: if the intention to fast arose in your heart before the second adhān [i.e., before Fajr], then your fast is valid.
 
And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

My father has debts and asked me to repay them years ago, and I promised him I would do so upon his death — is it permissible for me to go back on my promise given that I am unable to repay them, especially since he refuses to contribute to repayment on the grounds that the debt has become my responsibility by virtue of my promise?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The established principle is that a father's debt is to be repaid from his own wealth, if he possesses sufficient means. As for the promise made by the son to repay it on his father's behalf, fulfilling such a promise is strongly recommended, and breaking it is considerably disliked. Shaykh al-Islām Imām al-Nawawī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "Fulfilling a promise is emphatically recommended, and breaking it is severely disliked. The evidences for this from the Qurʾān and the Sunnah are well known." [Rawḍat al-Ṭālibīn,Vol. 2/P.278] Shaykh al-Islām Imām Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī, may Allah have mercy upon him, further states: "The reason fulfilling a promise is not obligatory and breaking it is not forbidden is that a promise is in the nature of a gift, and a gift does not become binding except upon receipt." [Asnā al-Maṭālib fī Sharḥ Rawḍ al-Ṭālib,Vol. 2/P.487]
Given that the son does not possess the financial means to fulfil his promise to his father, breaking this promise falls beyond his capacity — and Allah does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear. Since the father himself possesses sufficient wealth to settle his own debt, repayment must be made from his own funds. Should he pass away before doing so, the debt is to be settled from his estate. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

Is it valid to perform the obligatory prayer while sitting?

 

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
Standing (Al-Qiyam) while having the ability to do so is one of the pillars (Arkan) of the prayer; the obligatory (Faridah) prayer is not valid without it. However, whoever is unable to stand may pray sitting down. As for voluntary (Nafilah) prayers, it is permissible to pray them sitting even if one is able to stand, but the one sitting receives half the reward of the one who prays standing. And Allah the Exalted knows best.

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