Transliteration:( Wa wassainal insaana biwaalidaihi husnanw wa in jaahadaaka litushrika bee maa laisa laka bihee 'ilmun falaa tuti'humaa; ilaiya marji'ukum fa unabbi'ukum bimaa kuntum ta'maloon )
"We have enjoined upon man to be good to his parents [13]. But if they endeavor to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge [14], then do not obey them. To Me is your return, and I will inform you about what you used to do [15]."
This verse was revealed regarding Hazrat Sa'ad bin Abi Waqqas (May Allah be pleased with him). He was known for his deep obedience to his mother.
When he embraced Islam, his mother demanded that he abandon the new faith, warning him that she would neither eat nor drink, nor sit in shade until he left Islam.
She persisted for 24 hours, weakening herself severely. In response, he said, "O mother, even if you had a hundred lives, and you were to give them all up one by one, I would still never abandon my faith."
When she saw that her efforts were futile, she resumed eating and drinking. This incident led to the revelation of this verse. (Khazainul Irfaan)
This verse clarifies that children must honor and serve their parents, even if the parents are non-believers.
However, when it comes to matters of religion, especially faith and monotheism, no compromise is allowed—not even for parents.
This teaches that while parental respect is universal, faith takes precedence. Thus, obligatory acts like Salaah or fasting cannot be abandoned on a parent’s command.
Here, polytheism represents absolute disbelief. The command is clear: do not obey even your parents if they instruct you to commit shirk.
If parents—who hold the highest worldly status—are not to be obeyed in matters of disbelief, then obedience to anyone else in such matters is even less valid.
Furthermore, this verse indicates that faith and its obligations must never be sacrificed for the sake of pleasing others.
The ruling applies especially to compulsory acts of worship, which cannot be set aside for anyone. However, optional acts—like nafl prayers or supererogatory Hajj—may be delayed out of parental concern.
From this, we also understand that in matters of Aqeedah (belief), there is no Taqleed (blind emulation); each person must individually uphold faith.
Lastly, the reminder that "To Me is your return" confirms that since accountability lies with Allah, one must always prioritize divine pleasure over worldly relationships.
8. And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful to his parents; but if they strive to make you associate with Me, which you have no knowledge of, then obey them not. Unto Me is your return and I shall tell you what you used to do. 9. And for those who believe and do righteous deeds, surely, We shall admit them among the righteous.
Allah commands His servants to be dutiful to parents, after urging them to adhere to belief in His Tawhid, because a person’s parents are the cause of his existence. So he must treat them with the utmost kindness and respect, his father for spending on him and his mother because of her compassion for him. Allah says:
(And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them, but address them in terms of honor. And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say: “My Lord! Bestow on them Your mercy as they did bring me up when I was young.”) (17:23-24) Although Allah orders us to show kindness, mercy and respect towards them in return for their previous kindness, He says:
(but if they strive to make associate with Me, which you have no knowledge of, then obey them not.) meaning, if they are idolators, and they try to make you follow them in their religion, then beware of them, and do not obey them in that, for you will be brought back to Me on the Day of Resurrection, and Allah will reward you for your kindness towards them and your patience in adhering to your religion. It is Allah Who will gather you with the group of the righteous, not with the group of your parents, even though you were the closest of people to them in the world. For a person will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection with those whom he loves, meaning, religious love. Allah says:
(And for those who believe and do righteous good deeds, surely, We shall make them enter with the righteous.) In his Tafsir of this Ayah, At-Tirmidhi recorded that Sa`d said: “Four Ayat were revealed concerning me — and he told his story. He said: “Umm Sa`d said: `Did Allah not command you to honor your parents By Allah, I will not eat or drink anything until I die or you renounce Islam.’ When they wanted to feed her, they would force her mouth open. Then this Ayah was revealed:
(And We have enjoined on man to be dutiful to his parents; but if they strive to make you associate with Me, of which you have no knowledge, then obey them not.)” This Hadith was also recorded by Imam Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud and An-Nasa’i. At-Tirmidhi said, “Hasan Sahih.
(29:8) We have enjoined upon man kindness to his parents, but if they exert pressure on you to associate with Me in My Divinity any that you do not know (to be My associate), do not obey them.[11] To Me is your return, and I shall let you know all that you have done.[12]
11. According to Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ahmad, Abu Daud and Nasai, this verse was sent down in respect of Saad bin Abi Waqqas. He was 18 or 19 years old when he embraced Islam. When his mother, Hamnah, daughter of Sufyan bin Umayyah (neice of Abu Sufyan), came to know that her son had become a Muslim, she said, “I will neither eat nor drink nor sit in shade unless you disown Muhammad. The rights of the mother are superior even according to Allah’s command. Therefore if you disobey me, you will be disobeying Allah too.” Saad was perplexed and came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and told this entire story. At that, this verse was revealed. Possibly other young men who embraced Islam in the initial stage at Makkah were also confronted with similar situations. Therefore, the same theme has been repeated forcefully in (Surah Luqman, Ayat 15) also.
What the verse means to impress is this: The rights of the parents, among the creation of Allah, are to be held as the supreme, but even if the parents force a person to adopt shirk, they should not be obeyed. The words, “And if they strive with you to make you join with Me” imply that a lesser pressure, or a pressure by either of them, deserves to be set aside much more promptly. The next sentence, “Of which you have no knowledge (as such)” is also noteworthy. This gives a sound reason for not obeying the parents in this regard. The parents certainly have the right that the children should serve them, respect them, and obey them in lawful things. But they do not have the right that one should obey them blindly against one’s knowledge of the reality. Therefore, there is no reason why a person should go on following his parents’ religion just because it is their religion. If the children come to know that their parents are following a false religion, they should give it up and adopt the right religion, and should not follow the wrong way whose falsehood has become clear to them even if the parents use every kind of pressure for it. When this is so in the case of even the parents, it should be so with every other person, too. No one deserves to be followed and obeyed unless one is sure that the person being followed is on the right path.
12. That is, the relationships of this world and their obligations are confined to the world. At last, the parents as well as the children have to return to their Creator, and before Him everybody will be held answerable only on the basis of his personal responsibility. If the parents have misled the children, they will be called to account. If the children have accepted deviation for the sake of the parents, they will be punished. And if the children adopted the right way, and showed no slackness in rendering the parents’ lawful rights either, but the parents ill treated them only for the reason that they did not join them in their deviation, they will not be able to escape Allah’s punishment.
[1125]- i.e., no knowledge of its divinity. There can be no knowledge about something which is non-existent or untrue.
For a faster and smoother experience,
install our mobile app now.
Related Ayat(Verses)/Topics