The duty of children toward elderly parents
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
She has a final issue in which she says: My mother is an old woman who is senile—this is her expression, Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz—she constantly demands things and quarrels with me if I ask her to do something beyond her will, such as opening the door and going out to the street, and she does not know what she is doing, and I refuse to do so out of fear for her getting lost. She makes the worst supplications against me and curses, saying: "May Allah not forgive you." I am afraid of my Lord that He might answer her supplication. Will Allah answer the supplication of an elderly person in that age and in that condition? And what should I do with my mother? I ask for clear advice. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
There is no harm upon you, praise be to Allah, in preventing her from what is not appropriate. In fact, you are to be thanked and rewarded. Even if she prays against you or curses you, it will not harm you; because that is not from her conscious mind. Rather, as you mentioned, her mind has changed and she has become senile. So you must prevent her from everything from which she should be prevented, such as preventing her from going out to the market, and preventing her from anything that harms herself or harms others. You must hold her back by the hand; because in that state, she is not of sound mind. One who is not of sound mind is held back by his child, or his brother, or his relative, or whoever is responsible for him, such as a madman or a small child.
So in this matter, you are to be thanked and rewarded. You must not be lenient in this; rather, you must be patient, and prevent her from what harms her or harms others, and prevent her from the market as well. Even if she prays against you, it will not harm you and it will not be answered against you; because she has no consciousness and no mind. We ask Allah for success for us and for you, and for a great reward, and patience with this trial until Allah chooses death for her. Yes.
The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.
She has a final issue in which she says: My mother is an old woman who is senile—this is her expression, Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz—she constantly demands things and quarrels with me if I ask her to do something beyond her will, such as opening the door and going out to the street, and she does not know what she is doing, and I refuse to do so out of fear for her getting lost. She makes the worst supplications against me and curses, saying: "May Allah not forgive you." I am afraid of my Lord that He might answer her supplication. Will Allah answer the supplication of an elderly person in that age and in that condition? And what should I do with my mother? I ask for clear advice. May Allah reward you with good.
Answer:
There is no harm upon you, praise be to Allah, in preventing her from what is not appropriate. In fact, you are to be thanked and rewarded. Even if she prays against you or curses you, it will not harm you; because that is not from her conscious mind. Rather, as you mentioned, her mind has changed and she has become senile. So you must prevent her from everything from which she should be prevented, such as preventing her from going out to the market, and preventing her from anything that harms herself or harms others. You must hold her back by the hand; because in that state, she is not of sound mind. One who is not of sound mind is held back by his child, or his brother, or his relative, or whoever is responsible for him, such as a madman or a small child.
So in this matter, you are to be thanked and rewarded. You must not be lenient in this; rather, you must be patient, and prevent her from what harms her or harms others, and prevent her from the market as well. Even if she prays against you, it will not harm you and it will not be answered against you; because she has no consciousness and no mind. We ask Allah for success for us and for you, and for a great reward, and patience with this trial until Allah chooses death for her. Yes.
The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.