O My Father, Do What You Are Commanded

The answer of Sayyidunā Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him) should be studied deeply, and taken seriously, by the society that we live in: this society that gives no rights to the parents, in which the children have no morals in the way they deal with their parents; a society that would give rights to everyone, even to the perverted, but would give no rights to the parents; a society where the state has more authority over your children than you do. This response of Sayyidunā Ismāʿīl needs to be studied very carefully.

Sayyidunā Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him) said: O my father, do what you are commanded to do. If a parent would tell his child to provide for him, the son or the daughter won't. And at the end of their life they are dumped in an elderly house. And Sayyidunā Ismāʿīl (peace be upon him) is giving the most valuable thing that he has, and that is his life. It's not a matter of providing for his father material provisions, or taking care of some needs of his father. He is giving his father his life. He is giving away his life.

And again I say: that's important to study, by us, the Muslims, because we are living in a society that gives no rights. The only group that have no rights are the parents. They have no rights whatsoever. They are a disposable thing. They just raise up the children; they bear them, and they take care of them, and they work for them, and they sacrifice for them. And then, when the children reach the age of eighteen, they have no obligation whatsoever towards these parents — and that is by law. The parents cannot take anything from their children after they reach the age of eighteen, by law. Nothing. The child does not have to obey, does not have to provide, does not have to take care, because it's an individualistic society. And it's affecting the Muslims. It's affecting us, because we borrow from the environment we live in.

Sayyidunā Ismāʿīl said: do whatever you are commanded to do. Ifʿal mā tuʾmar: do whatever you're told to do. Whatever Allah commanded you to do, do it. And then he said: sa-tajidunī in shāʾ Allāhu min al-ṣābirīn — you will find me, in shāʾ Allāh, of those who are patient.

He didn't say: you will find me patient. Because we cannot guarantee our actions. We have no guarantee over what we're going to do this moment, let alone in the future. Everything that we do, we need to realise that it's tawfīq from Allah (swt). Allah is the one who made it accessible for us. And that is why we don't say that we're going to do it and put an end to it that way. No: we say we're going to do it, in shāʾ Allāh, and we ask Allah (swt) to assist us in doing so.

And that is why in every ṣalāh we say: ihdinā al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm — guide us to the straight path. It's You who will guide us. Without Your help we cannot do anything. Without Your help we cannot worship You. And that's why we need to thank Allah (swt) for every good deed that we do. And then we need to thank Allah (swt) because He allowed us to thank Him. Sa-tajidunī in shāʾ Allāhu min al-ṣābirīn.