Sadullah Khan – 24th Post Witr Talk Ramadaan 1444 2023

Moral guidance for everyday experiences.

There is a heart rendering incident

that relates to situations in our contemporary

society.

And, this

is a neglect

of aged parents.

It's not uncommon in our days to find

this

as part of the reality in some families.

A particular incident,

a frail old lady.

Had a hard life.

Working as a janitor.

Coming from a poor family.

Married a man who was a night guard,

a watchman.

And they only had one son.

Though they lived a poor life,

nonetheless, they saved whatever pennies they could

and

made sure that their only child, their son,

got the best education

and eventually

got a good job.

They stayed in the house which they had

rented all the years, the outhouse.

But then the old man passed away

And the old lady went to live with

her son, his wife, and by that time,

a 4 year old boy that he had.

So years of hard life had weakened her.

Her sight was not too good.

Her hands were trembling.

She would occasionally when she eat drop the

spoon or drop a fork out of her

hand and sometimes knock over the plate

or spill the soup or something on the

table.

And. The young couple were quite irritated by

this sometimes. And on one particular occasion

they had some guests.

And of course, the old lady unfortunately,

knocked over the soup and it broke

and she dropped the spoon or the fork.

And after the friends left, they told her,

mom, you're overdoing this. It's just getting all

the time.

So we're rather gonna put you one side

and you eat on the table. And you

know what? Breaking all the the

the crockery and the the plates, you rather

have a wooden bowl and you eat from

that, so it doesn't break.

And then from that time onwards, the old

lady was sitting on the side on the

side table eating from the wooden bowl.

She tried not to spill anything, but now

and then she still dropped her fork and

the 4 year old boy would go and

pick up the fork or the spoon and

say, here grandma, here's your spoon.

When he came to the boy's 5th birthday

now,

he told his parents they always buy him

a toy for his birthday and he told

his parents don't buy me a toy rather

give me R50.

I said okay.

At the evening of his birthday and they

asked him, so what gift did you buy

yourself?

He said, no mom and dad I bought

something for you.

And he went to fetch a packet and

in the packet

were 2 wooden bowls.

So they asked him,

why did you buy this?

He said, mom and dad, someday you too

will be old and you too will drop

the ball so I bought it for you

now so when you're old you use it.

See how often

we forget the trials that both parents go

through in bringing up,

bringing us up, in particular the mother.

Consider the case of our beloved prophet Muhammad

He lost his mother,

of course, father before he was born. Mother

at the age of 6, Halima to Sadia

took care of him, Umayman took care of

him. But then his grandfather, he lived with

him for 2 years, and the grandfather, Abdul

Muttalib,

passed away.

And then he stayed with the son of

Abdul Muttalib, Abu Talib,

and his wife

whose name was Fatima Fatima Binti. I said,

He lived with Abu Talib who was his

father's brother.

And he went to live with them.

And

when

Fatima

Binti Asad passed away, the mother of Sayid

Ali, the wife of Abu Talib,

what the prophet said

by her head when she had laid there

in her last moments or when she passed

away

is a tribute to how people appreciate parents

particularly the mother.

It's not his his real mother, of course.

He he lost his mother very young. But

the appreciation that he showed to someone who

cared for him, He said the following words.

They document this in the in the books

of

of

May Allah have mercy on you, my mother.

You were like my mother after my mother.

He said when I was hungry, you fed

me to my food

while you yourself remain hungry at times.

You clothed me with the best of clothing

that you could find and afford,

Adorning me and denied yourself

to look good.

And, you filled all my needs

despite you are not being able to see

to your own needs at times.

You see, this is an appreciation, a tribute

of the prophet

as he is speaking on behalf of us

to our mothers.

How does one ever compensate

a parent and more particularly the mother?

An incident which I want to conclude with,

son of Said Na'amur, the second caliph, Radi

Allah 1.

After the time of Rasulullah,

they say,

He was carrying his mother

on his back as he made the waf.

And he said, I am like a humble

camel, you know, a humble ride carrying my

mother.

And perchance, the man did the whole Hajj

with his mother on his back, but he

was now doing the tawaf.

And when he finished

that, he turned to Abdul Abi Umar, a

companion of Rasulullah

you, Umar. Do you think I have repaid

my mother

for what she has done for me?

So Omar said, not even for the first

push when she gave birth to you.

Have not even paid her for the first

push she gave or for any she fell

during her pregnancy.

And Allah reminds us in the holy Quran.

What was saying

Allah has enjoined upon you, made it he

advises us and guides us and commands us

to be good and appreciative of our parents.

Your mother in particular, she bore you within

herself and you she was the one who

you're solely dependent upon for 2 years.

With hardship, with pains, with difficulty, with anxiety,

denying herself.

For 2 years.

When you are thankful, be thankful to me

and to your parents.