Al-Ahqaf (The Dunes)

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, and the bearing of him, and the weaning of him [lasts] thirty months, till when he attains full strength and reaches forty years, he says: “My Lord! Grant me the power and ability that I may be grateful for Your Favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents, and that I may do righteous good deeds, such as to please You, and make my offspring good. Truly, I have turned to You in repentance, and truly, I am one of the Muslims [submitting to Your Will].

Being dutiful and kind to one’s parents is highly rewarded by God.

The phrase:

“We enjoined”

is attested five times in the Qur’an three instances of which are employed for parents¹ . Owing to the hardships of pregnancy, delivery, and suckling, mothers enjoy a special privilege and deserve further kindness. It is noteworthy that being dutiful and kind to one’s parents does not depend on their being Muslims.

The basis of man’s life and his felicity and improvement rests on unanimity, kindness, and philanthropy and his closest relations are his parents who partially form his material existence. That is why God Almighty enjoins man to do good to his parents.

In this vein, motherly love for her child is one of the wonders of the world and one of the secrets of creation, since despite suffering so many hardships and so much pain, however her child be ugly in form or character, her love never turns into disgust. She bears the child for a period of nine months and her delivery is very painful. She suckles her child.

According to the Verse, such activities last thirty months. Therefore, compared with fathers, mothers suffer further hardships; however, fathers undergo many hardships for their children in other respects. In bringing up their children, parents undergo many a hardship to provide for their children’s provisions and education until their children reach majority.

The verse connotes guidance through intellect since any fair individual knows through their reason that they are dutiful against their parents and the verse stands on such rational command.

The Qur’an² says:

“Is there any reward for good other than good?”

which is a reference to the rational command in question.

However, when we compare this Verse with:

“And worship Allah and do not associate false deities with Him in any way and do good to your parents”3

which is attested in four Qur’nic Chapters for the sake of emphasis and we take the large number of traditions and narrations narrated from the Infallibles (as) we notice that the number is so large that enumerating all of them will run to many a page.

Taking the Qur’anic Verses and the traditions and narrations bears testimony to the fact that as per Divine Command doing good to one’s parents is on a par with worshipping God based on which it is obligatory to be dutiful to one’s parents and obey them unless their commands be inconsistent with Divine Commands and those of His Messenger.

It is incumbent upon every individual to make every attempt to do good to them and obtain their satisfaction at all times and to the extent possible to do so since obedience to them and obtaining their satisfaction are on a par with obedience to God and obtaining Divine Satisfaction.

Man attains to the perfect state of physical and mental development when he is forty years of age. It clearly demonstrates whether he treads the path of felicity or is astray.

Thus God Almighty says that within a period of forty years, man may proceed on the path of felicity and thus say in a state of need and gratitude:

“Bestow upon me the blessing that I may be grateful for the abounding material and immaterial bounties granted to me and my parents and as a token of gratitude act upon Your Satisfaction.”

Such individual not only invokes God to respond to his needs but also seeks felicity and welfare for his offspring.

He turns to the threshold of the Absolute Self-Sufficient God and sincerely addresses God saying:

“I have turned toward you. I have submitted to Your Will and Command.”

Experts of Islamic law have employed:

“the bearing of him and the weaning of him [lasts] thirty months”

and

“the mothers shall give suck to their children for two whole years”4

to conclude that pregnancy in the least lasts six months which together with two months of suckling amount to thirty months.