How should a man advise his parents if they are watching satellite television without being undutiful to them?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : He says: Your Eminence, regarding enjoining good and forbidding evil, if I see my father watching satellite television, what advice should I give him so that I do not treat him undutifully or insult him?
The Shaykh : Yes. The advice is to be gentle with him and to choose a time when he is in a good mood and free from emotional agitation. Speak to him in private, once after another. If he benefits from it, that is the goal. If he does not benefit, there is no harm in speaking to him openly, as Ibrahim (peace be upon him) did when he was conversing with his father. He said:[Maryam 19:42] and he said: [Maryam 19:43] He was ordering his father to follow him because he had received knowledge that had not come to him [Maryam 19:44-45].
The important thing is that it is obligatory for him to be considerate of his father, to enjoin good and forbid evil by the means most likely to achieve the intended result, and not to despair. Some people, if their father rebukes them once or speaks ill of them, give up. This is a mistake. Be patient, persevere, and hold firm, and do not despair. However, let the advice be kept private between you and him, as that is closer to being accepted. Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes. The advice is to be gentle with him and to choose a time when he is in a good mood and free from emotional agitation. Speak to him in private, once after another. If he benefits from it, that is the goal. If he does not benefit, there is no harm in speaking to him openly, as Ibrahim (peace be upon him) did when he was conversing with his father. He said:
O my father, why do you worship that which does not hear and does not see and will not benefit you at all?
يَا أَبَتِ لِمَ تَعْبُدُ مَا لا يَسْمَعُ وَلا يُبْصِرُ وَلا يُغْنِي عَنْكَ شَيْئاًO my father, indeed there has come to me of knowledge that which has not come to you, so follow me; I will guide you to an even path.
يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي قَدْ جَاءَنِي مِنْ الْعِلْمِ مَا لَمْ يَأْتِكَ فَاتَّبِعْنِي أَهْدِكَ صِرَاطاً سَوِيّاً(44) O my father, do not worship Satan. Indeed Satan has ever been, to the Most Merciful, disobedient. (45) O my father, indeed I fear that there will touch you a punishment from the Most Merciful so you would be to Satan a companion [in Hellfire]."
يَا أَبَتِ لا تَعْبُدْ الشَّيْطَانَ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَنِ عَصِيّاً يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَنْ يَمَسَّكَ عَذَابٌ مِنْ الرَّحْمَنِ فَتَكُونَ لِلشَّيْطَانِ وَلِيّاًThe important thing is that it is obligatory for him to be considerate of his father, to enjoin good and forbid evil by the means most likely to achieve the intended result, and not to despair. Some people, if their father rebukes them once or speaks ill of them, give up. This is a mistake. Be patient, persevere, and hold firm, and do not despair. However, let the advice be kept private between you and him, as that is closer to being accepted. Yes.