Moral Responsibility toward Parents

MORAL RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD PARENTS A believer should be grateful to God, acknowledge and submit to Him. He should treat his parents honourably, speak gently to them and fulfil their needs. C hapter 31 of the Quran states: “We have enjoined man to show kindness to his parents—for his mother bears him, in hardship upon hardship, and his weaning takes two years. [We said] Give thanks to Me and to your parents; all will return to Me. But if they press you to associate something with Me about which you have no knowledge, do not obey them. Yet be kind to them in this world and follow the path of those who turn to Me. You will all return to Me in the end, and I will tell you everything that you have done.” (31:14-15) After God, a person’s parents have the first claim upon his loyalty. But, if the parents’ desire clashes with God’s will, then preference has to be given to God’s