سبحان الله وبحمده، عدد خلقه، ورضى نفسه، وزينة عرشه، ومداد كلماته

[subhan allahi wa bi hamdihi, `adada khalqihi, wa rida nafsihi, wa zinata `arshihi, wa midada kalimatihi]

“Glory to Allah and praise to Him, to number of His creation, and to the extent of His pleasure, and to the extent of the weight of His Throne, and to the extent of ink used in recording words for His Praise.”

[Muslim and Abu Dawud]

Next month, I will insha’Allah be taking my mother to perform Umrah and visit the beloved city of the Prophet ﷺ. From when I was young, I read the hadith of the man who carried his mother to hajj [1] and wished I could one day do the same. Though I will not be carrying her (though I did suggest it to her), it is the greatest honour for me to be able to take my mother through my own savings to visit Madinah for the first time in her life. Though she has been Umrah many times before, Allah willed that she would not visit Madinah until this visit. May Allah preserve her and grant her long life.

I do not say this out of boast, but rather for two separate reasons:

1) To encourage our brothers and sisters to treat their parents with excellence. They brought you up and made you who you are. They invested time and money into you. Anything you do is by virtue of them, as without them you would not exist. Most of us struggle to even speak to our parents once a day. We forget them as soon as we move out and neglect them when they live with us. Know that paradise lies beneath the feet of your mother [2], so treat he with kindness and honour! And realise that everything you own is your fathers [3], so spend on him and don’t hold back.

2) To petition Allah to accept our intention for Umrah and invite us to His house. As the scholars have said, a person must be accepted to visit the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah – the spiritual ‘visa’ from the creator. From now until I get to the holy cities, many things may happen. If I were to rely on my deeds alone, I would certainly be rejected, but perhaps Allah will accept my intention through my endeavour to take my mother.

My intention is to perform an Umrah on behalf of the Messenger ﷺ, dedicating the small act to him for the vast amount he has given us. Allah never turns away a prayer upon the prophet ﷺ, so perhaps through His love of Muhammad ﷺ, the perfect paragon for humanity, my request of Umrah will be accepted.

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[1] Sa’id ibn Abi Burda said, “I heard my father sat that Ibn ‘Umar saw a Yamani man going around the House while carrying his mother on his back, saying, ‘I am your humble camel. If her mount is frightened, I am not frightened.’ Then he asked, ‘Ibn ‘Umar? Do you think that I have repaid her?’ He replied, ‘No, not even for a single groan.’ [Al-Adab Al-Mufrad Al-Bukhari]

[2] فالزمها فإن الجنة تحت رجليها – “be dutiful to your mother, as paradise is at her feet” [Sahih: Al-Nasa’i and others]

[3] أنت ومالك لأبيك – “you and your property are for your father” [Sahih; Ibn Maaja, Ahmed]