Allah's Advice about the Parents

After mentioning that one must confess His Oneness, worship Him with sincerity, and remain upright in obeying Him, Allah follows that by giving instructions regarding the parents. These appear together in many places of the Qur'an, such as Allah's saying,

وَقَضَى رَبُّكَ أَلاَّ تَعْبُدُواْ إِلاَّ إِيَّـهُ وَبِالْوَلِدَيْنِ إِحْسَـناً

أُولَـٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ نَتَقَبَّلُ عَنْهُمْ أَحْسَنَ مَا عَمِلُوا وَنَتَجَاوَزُ عَن سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ (Such are the people from whom we accept the best of what they did and overlook their evils.... - 46:16) This, too, is a general rule, and if the verse was revealed with reference to Sayyidna Abu Bakr ؓ ، then he would be the first to be included in its generality. A quotation from Sayyidna ‘Ali ؓ which is given below also indicates that sense of the verse is general. Ibn Kathir has reported the narration of Muhammad Ibn Hatib (رح) that once he was with Sayyidna ‘Ali ؓ along with some other persons who blamed Sayyidna ` Uthman ؓ for some wrong-doings. There upon Sayyidna ‘Ali ؓ said:

کان عثمان ؓ تعالیٰ عنہ من الّذین قال اللہ تعالیٰ فیھم اُولٰٓیٔکَ الَّذینَ نَتَقَبَّل عنھُم اَحسَن مَا عَمِلُواونَتَجَاوَزُ عن سَیِّاٰتِھِم فِی اَصحابِ الجَنَّنۃِ وَعدَ الصِّدقِ الَّذِی کَانُوا یُوعَدُونَ ۔ قال واللہ عثمان واصحاب عثمان ؓ تعالیٰ عنہم ، قالھا ثلاثا۔ (ابن کثیر)