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Is it permissible to treat one's mother with severity if she does not pray, slanders, hates her son, and curses him, and does that contradict the teachings of Islam?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Whatever mistakes a mother makes towards her son, he must be patient and endure, and invest in her presence to show her dutifulness, for there is a great reward in that. One of the righteous predecessors cried at the death of one of his parents because they were a door to Paradise for him, and it was closed. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "May he be disgraced whose parents, or one of them, reach old age with him, and he does not enter Paradise [by serving them]." It is difficult for parents to control their emotions; they may favor some children over others, and this must be endured from them. If the mother continues to neglect prayer, her son must continue to invite her to it in the best manner and pray for her guidance. One who abandons prayer is a disbeliever, but parents are treated with special consideration even if they are disbelievers, as Allah Almighty says: (But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them, but accompany them in [this] world with 'maroof' (kindness and good conduct)) Luqman/15.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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