In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
Sponsoring the elderly persons and relieving them of harm is a communal obligation (fard kifayah), i.e. if this matter is performed by some (a sufficient number) in the community, the obligation falls from the rest; if not, then everyone in the community is sinful.
The elderly persons should be provided with a life of dignity and they must be given all human rights in full. There is much good in doing this to seek the pleasure of Allah, and whatever you spend on their care will be recorded with multiple reward. Allah says,
مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِي كُلِّ سُنبُلَةٍ مِّائَةُ حَبَّةٍ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَن يَشَاءُ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
The likeness of those who expend their wealth in the way of God is as the likeness of a grain of corn that sprouts seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains. So God multiplies unto whom He will; God is All-embracing, All-knowing. (Qur'an Al-Baqarah 2:261)
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,
Whoever removes a worldly hardship from a believer, Allah will remove one of the hardships of the Day of Resurrection from him. Whoever grants respite to (a debtor) who is in difficulty, Allah will grant him relief in this world and in the Hereafter. Whoever conceals (the fault of) a Muslim in this world, Allah will conceal him (his faults) in this world and in the Hereafter. Allah will help a person so long as he is helping his brother. (Muslim)
An elderly person may suffer from obvious weakness in one aspect or another of his life. This might be physical weakness, poor health, loneliness, his need for someone to support him, or any of the many other forms of weakness.
Allah says,
اللَّـهُ الَّذِي خَلَقَكُم مِّن ضَعْفٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ ضَعْفٍ قُوَّةً ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ ضَعْفًا وَشَيْبَةً ۚ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ ۖ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيمُ الْقَدِيرُ
Allah is He that created you of weakness, then He appointed after weakness strength, then after strength He appointed weakness and grey hairs; He creates what He will, and He is the All-knowing, the All-powerful. (Qur'an Rum 30:54)
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave special care to the elderly person owing to their feebleness. He, Allah bless him and grant him peace, confirms the high value of the elderly in Islam. He mentions them before a Qur’an memorizer and a just ruler; in spite of their great value and high rank. He, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
One may exalt Allah through showing kindness and respect to the elderly among you, to those who memorized the Qur’an and to a just ruler. (Abu Dawood)
An old man once came to meet the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, so the people were a bit slow in making way for him. Thereupon the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
He who does not show kindness to the young ones and respect to the elderly is not among us. (Muslims)
One of the distinguished characters of a Muslim is his mercy to the young and his respect to the old. Abiding by these morals was characteristic of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, during his lifetime. On the day of Conquest of Makkah, Abu-Bakr, Allah be pleased with him, brought his father Abu Quhafa, a very old man then, to embrace Islam before the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, at the Ka’aba. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to Abu Bakr,
"Why did you not keep the old man at home so that I would have come to him there?" (Ahmad)
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, was then a victorious leader and a conqueror of Makkah, whilst Abu Quhafa was an old man who embraced Islam after fighting it for twenty years. Despite this, the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, showed him great respect and felt that it would have been more appropriate if he – the great victorious Prophet - had gone to the old man’s place. This is the rank of the elderly in the eyes of the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace.
He, Allah bless him and grant him peace, would not approve of prolonging congregational prayers which he loved and valued highly. This was for the sake of not exhausting the old and the unprivileged. One unique incident narrated by Abu Mas’ud al-Ansari.
He said, “A man came to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said, ‘O Allah's Messenger! By Allah, I keep away from the morning prayer, only because so and so prolongs the prayer when he leads us in it.’ I have never seen Allah's Messenger more furious in giving advice than he was at that time. He then said, ‘Some of you make people dislike good deeds (the prayer). So whoever among you leads the people in prayer should shorten it because among you are the weak, the old and those with urgent needs.’” (Bukhari)
If this is the mercy for the elderly persons in general, how should we be to our elderly parents?
A man came to Allah's Messenger, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said,
O Allah's Messenger! Who is more entitled to get my good companionship?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man said. "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man further said, "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man asked for the fourth time, "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your father.” (Bukhari)
Thus the most deserving of a good companionship is not the friend, the ruler, the employer, or anyone else, but the mother and then the father. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, gave priority to the mother over the father and mentioned her three times because she would be weaker and needier as she gets old.
Taking care of our own parents is our individual duty (fard 'ain). Allah says,
The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, taught us to be merciful even in the most difficult and strange situations.
وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ وَهْنًا عَلَىٰ وَهْنٍ وَفِصَالُهُ فِي عَامَيْنِ أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيْكَ إِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرُ
And We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents. His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final] destination. (Qur'an Lukman 31:13)
A man came to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, asking his permission to take part in jihad in the way of Allah (here he meant to fight with non-Muslims). The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked him,
Are your parents alive?" He replied in the affirmative. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to him, "Then make your jihad (strive and exert yourself) in serving them. (Bukhari)
A man came to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said,
“I came to you to give the pledge of allegiance to you on emigration, and I left my parents weeping. The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Return to them and make them laugh as you made them weep.” (Abu Dawood, Nasa'i, Ibn Majah)
We, as Muslims, must teach people how to exalt human rights, and we begin with ourselves towards our own families and our neighbors.
Indeed, the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the exemplar. Allah says,
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds. (Qur'an Anbiya' 21:107)
May Allah guide us and put mercy in our hearts. Ameen. Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
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