29:8 Al-Ankaboot (The Spider)

أي: وأمرنا الإنسان، ووصيناه بوالديه حسنا، أي: ببرهما والإحسان إليهما، بالقول والعمل، وأن يحافظ على ذلك، ولا يعقهما ويسيء إليهما في قوله وعمله.{ وَإِنْ جَاهَدَاكَ لِتُشْرِكَ بِي مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ } وليس لأحد علم بصحة الشرك باللّه، وهذا تعظيم لأمر الشرك، { فَلَا تُطِعْهُمَا إِلَيَّ مَرْجِعُكُمْ فَأُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ } فأجازيكم بأعمالكم، فبروا والديكم وقدموا طاعتهما، إلا على طاعة اللّه ورسوله، فإنها مقدمة على كل شيء.

يقول تعالى آمرا عباده بالإحسان إلى الوالدين بعد الحث على التمسك بتوحيده فإن الوالدين هما سبب وجود الإنسان ولهما عليه غاية الإحسان فالوالد بالإنفاق والوالدة بالإشفاق ولهذا قال تعالى: "وقضى ربك ألا تعبدوا إلا إياه وبالوالدين إحسانا إما يبلغن عندك الكبر أحدهما أو كلاهما فلا تقل لهما أف ولا تنهرهما وقل لهما قولا كريما واخفض لهما جناج الذل من الرحمة وقل رب ارحمهما كما ربياني صغيرا" ومع هذه الوصية بالرأفة والرحمة والإحسان إليهما في مقابلة إحسانهما المتقدم قال: "وإن جاهداك لتشرك بي ما ليس لك به علم فلا تطعهما" أي وإن حرصا عليك أن تتابعهما على دينهما إذا كانا مشركين فإياك وإياهما فلا تطعهما في ذلك فإن مرجعكم إلي يوم القيامة فأجزيك بإحسانك إليهما وصبرك على دينك وأحشرك مع الصالحين لا في زمرة والديك وإن كنت أقرب الناس إليهما في الدنيا فإن المرء إنما يحشر يوم القيامة مع من أحب أي حبا دينيا.

Allah commands His servants to be dutiful to parents, after urging them to adhere to belief in His Tawhid, because a person's parents are the cause of his existence. So he must treat them with the utmost kindness and respect, his father for spending on him and his mother because of her compassion for him. Allah says:

وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلاَّ تَعْبُدُواْ إِلاَّ إِيَّـهُ وَبِالْوَلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَـناً إِمَّا يَبْلُغَنَّ عِندَكَ الْكِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَا أَوْ كِلاَهُمَا فَلاَ تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّ وَلاَ تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوْلاً كَرِيمًا - وَاخْفِضْ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ الذُّلِّ مِنَ الرَّحْمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ارْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرًا

(And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them, but address them in terms of honor. And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say: "My Lord! Bestow on them Your mercy as they did bring me up when I was young.") (17:23-24) Although Allah orders us to show kindness, mercy and respect towards them in return for their previous kindness, He says:

وَإِن جَـهَدَاكَ لِتُشْرِكَ بِى مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ فَلاَ تُطِعْهُمَآ

(but if they strive to make associate with Me, which you have no knowledge of, then obey them not.) meaning, if they are idolators, and they try to make you follow them in their religion, then beware of them, and do not obey them in that, for you will be brought back to Me on the Day of Resurrection, and Allah will reward you for your kindness towards them and your patience in adhering to your religion. It is Allah Who will gather you with the group of the righteous, not with the group of your parents, even though you were the closest of people to them in the world. For a person will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection with those whom he loves, meaning, religious love. Allah says:

وَالَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ لَنُدْخِلَنَّهُمْ فِى الصَّـلِحِينَ

(And for those who believe and do righteous good deeds, surely, We shall make them enter with the righteous.) In his Tafsir of this Ayah, At-Tirmidhi recorded that Sa`d said: "Four Ayat were revealed concerning me -- and he told his story. He said: "Umm Sa`d said: `Did Allah not command you to honor your parents By Allah, I will not eat or drink anything until I die or you renounce Islam.' When they wanted to feed her, they would force her mouth open. Then this Ayah was revealed:

وَوَصَّيْنَا الإِنْسَـنَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ حُسْناً وَإِن جَـهَدَاكَ لِتُشْرِكَ بِى مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ فَلاَ تُطِعْهُمَآ

(And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful to his parents; but if they strive to make you associate with Me, of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not.)" This Hadith was also recorded by Imam Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i. At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Sahih.

And We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents that he should be dutiful towards them; but if they urge you to ascribe to Me as partner that of which you do not have any knowledge any knowledge that accords with reality and so is meaningless then do not obey them in such incitements to idolatry. To Me will be your return whereat I will inform you of what you used to do and I will requite you for it.

Commentary

وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنسَانَ (And We have instructed man - 29:8). Wasiyyah (وَصِیَّۃ) means to call someone for some action, when the call is based on advice and well wishing. (Mazhari)

بِوَالِدَيْهِ حُسْنًا (to do good to his parents - 29:8). The Word Husn (حُسن) is an infinitive which means ' to be good'. at is meant here is to adopt good behavior. The meaning of the sentence is quite clear that Allah Ta’ ala has advised man to treat his parents kindly.

وَإِن جَاهَدَاكَ لِتُشْرِ‌كَ بِي (And if they insist upon you that you should ascribe partners to Me - 29:8). It should be taken note of that the limit of kind treatment with parents should not go beyond the point where it comes in conflict with the injunctions of Allah Ta’ ala. If they force toward infidelity or associating some one with Allah, then they must not be obeyed, as advised in a hadith لَا طَاعَۃَ لِمَخلُوقِ فِی مَعصِیِّۃِ الخَالِق (A created being must not be obeyed in, disobedience of the Creator). This Hadith has been reported by Imam Ahmad and Hakim رحمۃ اللہ علیہما who has held it as Sahih).

This verse was revealed in connection with Sayyidna Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas ؓ . He was one of the ten companions to whom the Holy Prophet ﷺ had given the good news of being in paradise, and who are called Al-'Ashrah Al-mubashsharah. He was an extremely obedient son of his mother and was always alert to look after her comfort. When his mother, Hamnah hint Abi Sufyan, learnt that her son, Sa'd, had accepted Islam, she got very upset and warned him against that, and then swore an oath that she would neither eat nor drink unless he turned back to his ancestral religion, or she would die of thirst and hunger, and he would be blamed universally for being the killer of his mother. (Muslim, Tirmidhi). Through this Qur'anic verse Sayyidna Sa'd ؓ was commanded not to listen to his mother.

Baghawi has reported in his narration that the mother of Sayyidna Sa'd ؓ did not eat and drink for a day and night, and according to some other versions, for three days and three nights, and sticking to her oath, remained hungry and thirsty. For Sayyidna Sa'd ؓ mother's love and obedience was one thing, but Allah's command was another, which naturally took precedence over everything else. So he went to her and said to her firmly ` Dear mother, if there were hundred spirits in your body, and they were departing one by one, I would not have deserted my religion even seeing that scenario. It is now up to you whether you eat and drink or die. In any case I cannot abandon my religion'. Having been disappointed by his firmness, she started eating food.

(We have enjoined on man kindness to parents�) [29:8]. The commentators of the Qur�an said: �This was revealed about Sa�d ibn Abi Waqqas. When the latter embraced Islam, his mother Hamnah said to him: �O Sa�d, I heard that you have renounced your old religion. By Allah, I will not take shelter under any roof to protect me from the sun and wind, nor will I eat or drink, until you disbelieve in Muhammad and revert to your old religion�. Sa�d was the dearest of her sons to her, but he refused to do as she wanted. For three days, his mother did not eat, drink or take shelter under the shade until it was feared that she may perish. At that point, Sa�d went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and complained to him. Allah, exalted is He, revealed as a response this verse as well as the verse in Surah Luqman [31:14] and the verse in Surah al-Ahqaf [46:15]�. Abu Sa�id informed us> Abu Bakr al-Ghazi> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamdan> Abu Ya�la> Abu Khaythamah> al-Hasan ibn Musa> Zuhayr> Simak ibn Harb> Mus�ab ibn Sa�d ibn Abi Waqqas> his father who said: �This verse was revealed about me. Umm Sa�d [his mother] swore that she will never speak to me, eat or drink, until I disbelieve in Islam. She did this for three days until she passed out from exhaustion. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (We have enjoined on man kindness to parents�)�. This was narrated by Muslim from Abu Khaythamah.