Khutbah: Parents

Khutbah: Parents is an Islamic video for children aged 7 to 12: a short talk, like the one before the Friday prayer, about why parents matter so much and how Allah tells us to treat them.

The talk begins with the Qur'an. Straight after telling us to worship Him, Allah tells us to be good to our parents: to speak to them kindly, never to say a word of contempt, and to lower the wing of mercy over them. The speaker admits that parents can be irritating, embarrassing or even unfair sometimes. But we do not need to argue back; we can stay quiet and calm.

He tells a story, in the spirit of the man in the cave (Sahih al-Bukhari 2272), of a young man whose sick mother woke in the night asking for water. There was none in the house, so he walked to the well and came back with a glass. By then she had fallen asleep. Rather than wake her, he stood beside her bed, holding the glass, until the adhan of Fajr.

Then comes the hadith. A man asked the Prophet ﷺ who most deserved his good company. "Your mother," he said, three times, and then, "Your father." Mothers carry us, give birth to us in pain and look after us before themselves. Fathers work hard for us too.

The speaker asks children to remember who cleaned them up, nursed them when they were ill and cheered them on, and to tell their parents often that they love them. It is a Miraj original.

• Surah Al-Isra 17:23-24: Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him and be good to your parents; do not say "uff" to them, speak to them nobly, and lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy.
• Surah Luqman 31:14: His mother carried him in weakness upon weakness; be grateful to Me and to your parents.
• Sahih al-Bukhari 5971: A man asked who most deserved his good company; the Prophet ﷺ said "your mother" three times, then "your father".
• Sahih al-Bukhari 2272: The three men trapped in the cave; one of them had stood all night holding milk for his sleeping parents rather than wake them or drink before them.