When a female becomes mother, her heart gets filled with immense amount of love for her kid. She carries her kid for 9 months in her womb, bears all the pain and trouble in that process and when her kid comes into her arms, she forgets all the pain and the only thing she remembers is her kid.
Since mother takes so much pain to raise her kids, to give them the warmth of her lap, to keep them safe from the small and then big fears, she has many rights over her kids. Before islam, mother was not given any rights, she was treated as a female who could be loved but not at the expense of self. But islam gave the mother all the respect and love she deserved.
A very famous hadith concerning the love and goodness of behavior of kids towards mother is given below;
Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “A man came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said, ‘O Messenger of Allaah, who among the people is most deserving of my good companionship?’ He said, ‘Your mother.’ The man asked, ‘Then who?’ He said, ‘Your mother.’ He asked, then who?’ He said, ‘Your mother.’ He asked, ‘Then who?’ He said, ‘Your father.’”
Thus, our mother deserves the most from us.
ALLAH swt says in Quran: 46:15
“And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful and kind to his parents. His mother bears him with hardship. And she brings him forth with hardship…”
When ALLAH says mother brings her child to the world with hardhip, how can we deny HIS words?
How much islam gives weight to the respect of parents, see the hadith below:
‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (may Allaah be pleased with them both) said: “A man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and asked him for permission to participate in jihaad. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to him, ‘Are your parents alive?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ He said, ‘Then your jihaad is with them.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2842; Muslim, 2549)
ALLAH swt says in Quran; 17:23
“say not to them a word of disrespect”
But, despite of all the ahadith and verse of Quran, what is happening in the wolrd today is, parents are living in old houses, and most of the old houses residents are women, the mothers especially who take so much pain to up bring their children and in their old age their children leave them for the sake of worldly pleasures.
A woman who spent all her young age in taking care of us, she could understand our problems when we were so young that we could not talk, she could understand the fears we had when we were young, she used to wipe our tears with love when we used to weep for a broken toy, she used to worry about us when we used to leave house for school.
She even worries herself, and has fears when we grow old enough to take care of us. She cannot eat if her kids are hungry. She used to wake up all the night because we were ill. She makes us happy with her love and simplicity that no one else can have. She will prefer to quench the thirst of her kid before her. Do not we remember the incident when hazart Hajirah ra was running between safah and merwah for her son’s thirst? Her worry and her pain for her son was so loved by ALLAH swt that HE made it one of the necessary acts to complete the hajj.
This is how ALLAH swt has given respect to mothers. We should learn from our din and given our mother the rights they deserve.