Amidst the purest examples of Islam’s honouring the women is the great status of the mother in Islam. The mother is the one who exposes the unborn child to this world,her value is beyond priceless. She holds the child in her womb for nine months, goes through the incomparable pain throughout her pregnancy & delivering of a baby into this world, remaining circumspect & conservative all the time during this period. Then after the birth of the child, she handles the task of feeding the child with her “khoon e jiger”(Blood of heart).Since it is the mother who endures most of the travail in bringing up the child, for that reason the right of the mother has been made to precede even the right of father in Islam. The Prophet of Islam(Pbuh) has told us three times more about the mother than the father when it comes to the kindness and the goodness of companionship.There is a hadith of the Prophet(Pbuh),reported almost by all the authentic books of Ahadith.A man once asked the Prophet of Islam to whom he should shower the most kindness. The prophet replied 3 times, “your mother, your mother, your mother and then your father”. Allah (Swt) also has promised such bounties & rewards in response to every act of affection, amore, esteem and devotion done to parents especially mothers. It is famous about the Prophet Musa (who used to converse with Allah), who once asked Allah, “O Allah! Who will be my companion in paradise?”Allah (Swt) revealed to him a butcher will be his companion in Paradise. Hazrat Musa (As) dazed, not a scholar, not a worshipper but a butcher?
“Mother is the key to the Paradise; no worship can take us expeditiously towards the same than being kind and generous to our mothers. Our mothers are like aegises that protect us not just in this world but hereafter, by the grace and mercy of Allah.”
Hazrat Musa (AS) was interested and wanted to find out what was so special about this butcher so Allah directed him to a shop in the community. He went and there he found a young butcher working and serving his customers. Hazrat Musa (AS) stayed with the butcher until the end of the day. The butcher closed his shop, put some meat in a small bag and then began to walk home. Hazrat Musa (AS) asked the butcher if he might accompany him and the butcher agreed. The butcher arrived home. Lying on a bed in his home, Hazrat Musa (AS) saw that there was an elderly, disabled woman. The butcher went to the kitchen and put the meat to cook. While the meat was cooking, he washed this old woman’s face, changed her clothes and combed her hair. He then brought the food that he had cooked and fed it to this woman with his own hand, piece by piece, until she was full.He then gave her water to drink with his own hand until she was satisfied.The butcher then lifted the woman back onto her bed. As he did so, she whispered something in his ear whereupon the man began to smile. Hazrat Musa(AS) asked the man, “Who is this woman and what did she say to you that made you smile?” The butcher replied, “This woman is my mother. Whenever I do something for her, she says to me, ‘My son, may Allah never cause your efforts with me to pass unrewarded and He make you the companion of Musa, son of Imran, in Paradise.’”Accordingly, Prophet (PBUH) has said that, Paradise lies under the feet of your mother”(Nasai). In view of the facts narrate above it can be said that a mother is the key to the Paradise; no worship can take us expeditiously towards the same than being kind and generous to our mothers. Our mothers are like aegises that protect us not just in this world but hereafter, by the grace and mercy of Allah. To conclude, Let us have a look at the beautiful couplet of Munawar rana:
جب بھی کشتی میری سیلاب میں آجاتی ہے
ماں دعا کرتی ہوٸ خواب میں آجاتی ہے
Whenever my navigates the flood
I see my mother making prayers in my dream.
(The author is a freelancer. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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