Signs of the Last Day
Section 7 of 23 · Foundations of Islam · Hamza Yusuf
Paradise at the Feet of the Mothers
If one looks in the Qurʾānic narrative, the first and foremost expression of a tawḥīdī worldview, of a belief in one God, is iḥsān to the parents — beauty to the parents, showing beauty to the parents. The Qurʾān says that God has told the human being to honour his parents, the mother first:
وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُۥ وَهْنًا عَلَىٰ وَهْنٍ وَفِصَـٰلُهُۥ فِى عَامَيْنِ أَنِ ٱشْكُرْ لِى وَلِوَٰلِدَيْكَ إِلَىَّ ٱلْمَصِيرُ
“We commanded man (to be good) in respect of his parents. His mother carried him (in her womb) despite weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. (We said to man,) “Be grateful to Me, and to your parents. To Me is the ultimate return.” (31:14)
The mother nurtured him and gave birth to the child, sapped and weakened. So the nine months of nurturing a child in the womb, giving birth, suckling the child, raising the child, changing the child, doing all of these things — there is a great debt owed by the child to the parent, and particularly to the mother. And this is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) said that paradise is at the feet of the mothers. It is literally at the feet of the mothers.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) was once asked: who is the most worthy of my companionship? And he answered: your mother. And then he said: and then who? He said: your mother. And he said: and then who? He said: your mother. And he said: and then who? He said: your father.
And then in another tradition, a man came to him and said: O Messenger of God, I am cleaning my mother in her decrepit age, the way she used to clean me — is that filial piety? And he said: no, that is payback. He literally said: that is recompense. You are just recompensing what she did for you.