Book Review : At Their Feet Piety Towards Parents

 

Allah , The Most High said: 

Thank me and your parents. (Quran)

The magnanimous blessings from Allah descend towards us when we obey our parents the way Allah and His Messenger have taught us. And the severe wrath of Allah awaits us when we disobey and mistreat them. The Prophet's strict teachings especially regarding the treatment of mothers have unparallel standards to any other moral or legal system. The pedestal at which the parent's rights in Islam stands is just after the rights of Allah and his Messenger. Therefore the severity of punishment also matters in this respect.

Sadly, in today's increasingly hedonistic and materialistic world, the rights of parents are often neglected in the rush for self-gratification. Due to the overpowering of individualism, many consider their parents backward or a hindrance to chasing the tantalizing but ultimately unfulfilling and fleeting pleasures this world has to offer. Not even one right towards parents is mentioned among the 30 articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is also ironic that in the world of unprecedented developments in communication and artificial intelligence, we lack communication between parents and children. It has deteriorated inexorably.

Abul Faraj ibn al Jawzi was a learned scholar possessing extensive knowledge and had authored over one thousand works encompassing a multitude of Islamic disciplines and sciences. His lineage is traced back to the family of Abu Bakr As Siddiq (May Allah be Pleased with him). He was born in 510 A.H. in Baghdad and died in 597 A.H. He is buried next to the grave of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal in Baghdad. 

His book Kitab al-birr al-Walidayn's English rendering is an attempt to rejuvenate the gravity of our responsibility towards our parents. It is almost a hundred page read with Qur'anic injunctions focusing on parents' rights and Prophetic traditions exhorting the believers to uphold the service towards them. The book also has famous pious people's treatment of their parents. It has many narrations from Prophet for which it has references in the footnotes. One has to be careful with the authenticity of the narrations as some narrations are graded daif or mawdu for which the reference is again given in the footnotes.

Therefore, this English rendering of Ibn Al Jawzi's Birrul Walidayn will surely lead to mark positive realignment of our relationships with our parents and families. And Allah grants the means and ability to whosoever He Wills.