What are the duties of a mother towards her children?
The duties of a mother to her child are many:
- Foremost among them is that the mother marry a righteous Muslim husband, and
- Pray for a righteous child,
- Being loving and merciful and being a good example to the child,
- Being a good friend at the age of friendship,
- Introducing the child to Allah,
- Helping the child know Allah,
- Providing an Islamic home environment,
- An Islamic upbringing in the home,
- An Islamic education outside of the home,
- Finding him or her a suitable spouse.
All of these duties of a mother towards her child are essentially what Allah is commanding us about in the Qur'an, when He says:
يَأيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ آمَنُوا قُوا أنْفُسَكُمْ وأهْلِيْكُمْ نَاراً وَّقُوْدُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَة
“O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from a fire, whose fuel are man and stones.” [1]
Parents are essentially responsible for the moral, ethical and basic essential religious teachings of their children.
If parents fulfill this responsibility, they will be free of the consequences on the Day of Judgment. The children will become strong believers and be a pleasure to the eyes of their parents, first in this life, and in then in hereafter.
Allah says in the Qur'an:
وَالَّذِيْنَ آمَنُوا وَاتَّبَعَتْهُمْ ذُرِّيَّتُهُمْ بِإيْمَانٍ ألْحَقْنَا بِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَمآ ألَتْنَاهُمْ مِنْ عَمَلِهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ كُلُّ امْرئٍ بِمَا كَسَبَ رَهِيْنٌ
“And those who believe and whose offspring follow them in Faith, to them shall We join their offspring (in heaven), and We shall not decrease the reward of their deeds in anything. Every person is a pledge for that which he has earned.” [2]
A mother will be responsible for her children on the Day of Judgment because her children are part of her flock that she must care for and raise them appropriately according to the teachings of Islam.
It was reported that ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Umar (RadiAllahu anhu) said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say, “Each of you is a shepherd and each of you is responsible for his flock. The imaam is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock. A man is the shepherd of his family and is responsible for his flock. A woman is the shepherd of her husband’s house and is responsible for her flock. …..’”. [3]
References:
[1] Quran, 66:6.
[2] Quran, 52:21.
[3] Bukhari, Hadeeth no. 5200.
< Back to Questions
