A young man suffering from a sin he keeps returning to despite repenting, which is undutifulness to his parents, such as raising his voice at them, asks for a ruling, requesting reward for the answer.

The questioner : He says that he is a young man and praises Allah for that. He says: "But I complain to Allah first, and then to you, of a sin that I keep returning to whenever I repent from it, which is undutifulness to my parents. I sometimes raise my voice above theirs and do things that hurt them. What is the ruling on this? May you be rewarded."

The Shaykh : Undutifulness to parents is among the major sins, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): He kept repeating it. Abu Bakrah, the narrator of the hadith, said: "Until we said: May he have stopped". It is not permissible for anyone to be undutiful to his parents; rather, he must be kind to them. If a person knows that one who severs family ties will not enter Paradise, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: meaning one who severs family ties, then in this state he should fear and refrain from undutifulness to parents and severing family ties. He should train himself to do so. If he fears that his speech with his parents will become harsh, he should leave the house until his anger subsides and he should evaluate himself.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.