Combining Dutifulness to Parents and Seeking Knowledge
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: My mother is divorced, and I am her only son. She smokes, and my father, who is in business, also smokes. He says that both of them need my service, but I have not been able to combine caring for them with seeking knowledge. I have felt that my faith has begun to weaken, and the lives of parents contain many violations of the Shari'ah. I traveled here to this country for the sake of seeking knowledge, and I left them alone, and they agreed, but reluctantly. His question is: Should I continue in my seeking of knowledge and remain here, and is this not considered undutifulness to parents?
Answer:
If they need you, then you stay with them, because their right is obligatory. Seeking knowledge is a recommended practice, but their right is obligatory. If they need you and they did not give you permission, then you stay. But if they gave you permission, or if they do not need you, then continue in seeking knowledge, contact them, maintain your ties with them, and convince them. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. The questioner says: My mother is divorced, and I am her only son. She smokes, and my father, who is in business, also smokes. He says that both of them need my service, but I have not been able to combine caring for them with seeking knowledge. I have felt that my faith has begun to weaken, and the lives of parents contain many violations of the Shari'ah. I traveled here to this country for the sake of seeking knowledge, and I left them alone, and they agreed, but reluctantly. His question is: Should I continue in my seeking of knowledge and remain here, and is this not considered undutifulness to parents?
Answer:
If they need you, then you stay with them, because their right is obligatory. Seeking knowledge is a recommended practice, but their right is obligatory. If they need you and they did not give you permission, then you stay. But if they gave you permission, or if they do not need you, then continue in seeking knowledge, contact them, maintain your ties with them, and convince them. Yes.
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، بداية من الوجه السابع : أن اعتماد العبد على المخلوق وتوكله عليه يوجب له الضرر من جهته هو ولا بد — islamhouse.com (59:21)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.