I am a young man, 18 years old. My mother is divorced from my father, and I have not seen her since I was born. I would like to visit her, but I have not told my father for fear of his anger at me. What is the ruling?

The questioner : I am a young man, 18 years old, and praise be to Allah, I perform the prayer and work to earn the pleasure of my parents and obey them. However, since my birth until now, I have not seen my mother, although I know where she currently resides, and she is far from me. My father told me about her, as he divorced her. I want to see her because she is my mother, and Allah will hold me accountable for her if I do not visit her. I have not mentioned to my father that I want to see her, for I am afraid that if I tell him, he will be angry with me, especially since he is married to a second woman and has several children from her. What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in your view in my situation?

The Shaykh : What we see is that it is obligatory for you to visit your mother, to treat her with kindness, and to be dutiful to her as is required of you, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), when asked who is most entitled to my good companionship, said: Or he said: Who is most entitled to my good companionship, meaning my company? He said: It was said: Then who? He said: It was said: Then who? He said: It was said: Then who? He said: It is not permissible for you to cut off ties with this mother in this manner. Rather, maintain ties with her and visit her. In this situation, you may manage things with your father so that he does not know about your visiting your mother, maintaining ties with her, and being dutiful to her. By doing so, you fulfill the right of the mother while avoiding the anger of your father.

The questioner : May Allah reward you. This is a listener to the program who has coded his name as M S L. He is of Egyptian nationality and works in Riyadh. He says: