Mothers: Producers of Heroes by Shaykh Dr. 'Abdullah Yusuf 'Azzam
Mothers: Producers of Heroes
“...Mothers play a great role in building a generation. The better a mother is at raising her children, the more successfully the Ummah is built and the more successful it is at producing heroes. You hardly ever see a great man except that a great woman is behind him who left some of her traits in his personality by way of the milk from which he was fed and the warm embrace in which he sought refuge.
Most men find it hard to remove these shining images from their minds that they retain of their mothers. These outstanding images that ran through his veins from a young age remain engraved in his mind, and he cannot help but to remember them with veneration and pride. He recalls the simple, clear words that his mother left his spirit with, and these words grow to become milestones on his path and guiding lights on his quest.
He cannot help but to place himself under the vast shade that his mother provided for him throughout the long course of his life, nurtured by the pleasant emotions and mixed with the eternal days of his life. These realities grow in his spirit and become an inseparable part of his personality that he cannot let go of without letting go of his humanity.
This is why preserving this affection and repaying this kindness with kindness is an obligation in Islam that is directly partnered with Tawhid: {“...and your Lord ordained that you worship only Him, and that you treat your parents with excellence...”} [al-Isra’; 32] And disobedience to them is directly partnered with kufr.
Respect for mothers occupies a very high position on the ladder of Islam, and is very heavy in its scales. It is reported in the ‘Sahih’ that a man came to the Messenger of Allah () and said: “O Messenger of Allah, who is most deserving of my kind treatment?” He replied: “Your mother.” The man asked: “Then who?” He replied: “Your mother.” The man asked again: “Then who?” He replied: “Your mother.” The man asked again: “Then who?” He replied: “Your father.”
I once said to Ibrahim al-Akhdar – the imam of the Haram in Makkah – “Why do you prevent your sweet voice from being heard by the Muslims who come from everywhere to hear it? How can you request to return to Madinah when some people say that hearing you recite the Qur’an is like hearing it descending fresh from the heavens?”
So, he replied: “My treasures in this world are my grandmother and mother, and I must fulfill my responsibilities to them and treat them well. Nobody can do this but me.”
I said: “Why don’t you bring your grandmother here?”
He said: “She refuses to leave Madinah out of fear that she might die outside of it, and her greatest wish is to be buried in the graveyard of al-Baqi’.”
And indeed, Ibrahim actually left the Haram in Makkah and went back to leading a small mosque in Madinah, sticking to the Paradise that is at the foot of his mother and grandmother...”
[‘Majallat al-Jihad’; #36, Rabi’ al-Awwal 1408]
by Shaykh Dr. 'Abdullah Yusuf 'Azzam (rahimahullah)
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Originally Posted by Al-Faruqi
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