Isn’t it weird how people tend to judge others even they don’t know them? Isn’t it stupid to assume that a Muslim hates his mother even though you have no idea about him, his religion or even his relationship with her? Don’t people understand that such random judgments can hurt others deeply?

My pen could never express how much pain I felt when a stranger came in and asked me why do I hate my mom after finding out that I’m a Muslim. He just overheard some of my non-Muslim friends asking me about my religion and so he assumed that I hate my mom. I couldn’t ignore his question for fear he may hurt another Muslim with such a mean question; so I tried to explain to him what Islam mean and how we as Muslims treat our mothers or at least how we are supposed to treat them.

The honor and respect attached to mothers in Islam is amazing and unparalleled; In the Quran, we find the importance of kindness to our mothers and fathers as second only to worshiping God: Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, And that you be kind to parents. Whether one or both of them attain old age in your life, Say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, But address them in terms of honor. And out of kindness, Lower to them the wing of humility, and say: ‘My Lord! bestow on them Your Mercy as they Cherished me in childhood’ ” (Quran 17:23-24).

The honor we have for mothers has also been eloquently described by the prophet (PBUH) when he said : “A man asked the Prophet: ‘Whom should I honor most?’ The Prophet replied: ‘Your mother’. ‘And who comes next?’ asked the man. The Prophet replied: ‘Your mother’. ‘And who comes next?’ asked the man. The Prophet replied: ‘Your mother!’. ‘And who comes next?’ asked the man. The Prophet replied: ‘Your father’” (Bukhari and Muslim).

To sum up, the Islamic teachings are made explicit in Quran and Sunnah and for anyone who wants to know about the role of women in Islam, he should avoid the distortion of the media. A non-Muslim who has had a contact with a Muslim society would never fail to be struck by the love, honor and respect given to not only the parents but the old people in general.