❖ Extracted from Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulām Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri ❖
✿ Is It Obligatory for Children to Provide for Elderly Parents? ✿
📌 The Ruling:
Yes, when parents become old, financially or physically dependent, it becomes obligatory upon their children to care for them, provide their basic needs, and serve them with kindness and respect. Neglecting this duty renders the children sinful.
📖 Evidence from Hadith:
❀ Sayyidunā Kaʿb ibn ʿUjrah رضي الله عنه narrated:
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
“Bring the pulpit.”
When we brought it, he stepped onto the first step and said: “Āmīn.”
On the second, he said: “Āmīn.”
On the third, he said: “Āmīn.”
When he descended, we asked,
“O Messenger of Allah! Today we heard from you something we never heard before.”
He ﷺ replied:
“Jibrīl (عليه السلام) came to me and said:
✦ ‘May he be destroyed who finds Ramadan but is not forgiven.’
I said: Āmīn.
✦ ‘May he be destroyed in whose presence your name is mentioned, yet he does not send ṣalāh upon you.’
I said: Āmīn.
✦ ‘May he be destroyed whose parents—either one or both—reach old age during his lifetime, yet they do not cause him to enter Paradise.’
I said: Āmīn.”
📚 al-Mustadrak ʿala al-Ṣaḥīḥayn (4/153)
✅ Imām Ḥākim graded the ḥadīth “Ṣaḥīḥ al-Isnād” and Ḥāfiẓ Dhahabī also authenticated it.
◈ Key Points:
① Elderly parents have a Sharʿī right upon their children for financial care and emotional support.
② Neglecting their needs is a major sin.
③ Serving elderly parents is a cause of entering Paradise.
④ This responsibility increases as the parents become more dependent due to old age.
