Concerning the Good Treatment of One's Parents - From the Benefits of this Hadith are ...

From the benefits of this hadith are:

1. We find in the etiquettes of the Companions, that they were keen to please Allah, by performing acts which He loved, as appose to what they loved;
2. It contains an example for the one who wishes to know something, that he should ask the people of knowledge; and
3. We find that the following three acts are beloved to Allah - The virtue of prayer at its proper time, that is soon after the prayer time has entered as opposed to the prayer of the hypocrites who would leave prayer to just before the commencement of the following one, the kind treatment of parents, and the virtue of jihad in the way of Allah, an act which involves great sacrifice and courage.

And so between the lofty second pillar of Islam, that is prayer at its proper time, and the invitation to martyrdom - that is jihad in the way of Allah, lies the kind treatment of parents, which provides a sufficient exhortation to treat parents better, because by doing so, we earn the pleasure of Allah, following the footsteps of our pious predecessors.

Imam Al-Bukhari then relates another narration from 'Abdullah ibn 'Umar, who said:

"The Pleasure of the Lord lies in the pleasure of the parent. The Anger of the Lord lies in the anger of the parent."

From the benefits of this narration are:^[5]

1. We learn that Allah's Pleasure is connected to the pleasure of one's parents;
2. Likewise, we learn that Allah's Anger is connected to the anger of one's parents;
3. Seeking the Pleasure of Allah leads one to Paradise, and provoking His Anger leads one to the Hellfire so this narration is a key to Paradise for the one who wishes to enter it;
4. Pleasing one's parents increases the bond the parent and child has, it also makes the home a pleasant environment;
5. This narration confirms the Divine attribute of Pleasure, however the Pleasure of Allah is not like the pleasure of His creation, that is because pleasure is an emotion that indicates weakness where-as Allah is free from imperfection; and
6. Likewise, this narration confirms the Divine attribute of Anger, however the Anger of Allah is not like the anger of His creation, that is because anger is an emotion which can lead one to do something irrational, which denotes weakness in the creation, where-as the anger of Allah is free from imperfection.

In conclusion, the importance of honouring one's parents are:^[6]

1. Obedience to Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him;
2. Obeying and honouring one's parents is a means of entering Paradise;
3. Respecting and honouring them brings friendship and love;
4. Respecting and obeying them is a way of showing gratitude to them because they are the ones who brought you into this world, and
5. If a person honours his parents this may be the cause of his own children honouring him.

Furthermore, disobedience to one's parents is from the major sins. However there is no obedience to the creation if it entails disobedience to Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. As for after the parents have died (and if they died in a state of Islam), the child can do many things, such as the following:

• If he has wealth, and his parents were in debt, he can discharge their duty by paying off the debt for them;
• If he has wealth and his parents had not performed hajj, he may perform hajj on their behalf, or pay for someone else to perform hajj on their behalf (if he has fulfilled the obligation), and
• He may pray for forgiveness for them and pray for mercy for them.

This is the end of Chapter 1, may Allah facilitate further explanations in the future.

I close by praising Allah, and may His peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad.

 From Points of Benefit from Al-Adab al-Mufrad of Imam Al-Bukhari. The translation of Al-Adab al-Mufrad can be found here, its checking by Shaykh Al-Albani on [site no longer available] and an audio explanation of the first few chapters by Salim Morgan at [site no longer available].