Written by: Deeba Chaudhry
Source: Calgary Ahmadiyya Muslim Examiner
“Mother” a woman who conceives, gives birth to, or raises and nurtures a child - a model of loyalty and dedication. Someone who loves unconditionally and places the needs of her children above her own, on a personal level. The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. Have you ever wondered what goes on to make a good mother? Mothers comprise of a bundle of emotions that sometimes defy reason. So this goes out to all the mothers who have kept awake all night with their sick toddlers in their arms, constantly uttering those compassionate words, "It's OK honey, Mommy's here." For those who show up at work with milk stains on their dress and diapers in their handbags. For those mothers who cannot restrain tears from trickling down their cheeks when they hold their babies for the first time in their arms. For the mother who defy all odds just to watch her kid perform and repeat to themselves "That's my child!!" For all the mothers who read "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year, and then read it again. "Just one more time." For the mothers who taught their children to tie the shoelaces even before they started going to school. For the mothers who incontinently turn their heads when they hear the word "Mom", even though they know that their kids are nowhere around. For all those mothers whose heart aches to watch her son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first time. For all those mothers of fortunate children, who really care, worry about their food, clothes, health, education, future and whole life from the bottom of their hearts. Mother: who teaches a child how to speak, how to eat, and how to live. Mother is a mentor, a teacher and a remarkable woman. So, this is meant for all the modern day wives, young and aged mothers, working mothers and housewives, married mothers and the single mothers, those with money and without and for those without whom life would have been insufferable. I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life.
“Mother`s Day” a day is celebrated around the world and in many countries it is usually observed second week of May each year. The women who carried us inside of them for nine months, who gave birth to us, who raised us, who nurtured us and made us who we are, deserve our respect and love. People all over the world wish their mothers the day and also give them Mother's Day cards, gifts and many other things for the acknowledgement of her motherly love. When we study the history of the Mother's Day we find its origin in the ancient Greece when people enjoy spring celebrations for Rhea, a goddess mother of the Gods. But this particular day for people of this age was first celebrated in England during 1600's as "Mothering Sunday". A special cake named "Mothering Cake" was used to celebrate the Mother`s Day. Mr. Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States announced the 2nd Sunday of May every year a national holiday for honouring mothers. Mothers are the most beautiful and precious gift of the Creature to His creation. When a baby born, Allah frees his/her mother for a period from any kind of worship of Allah as "Namaz", fasting and other prayers for her child. As many people think that she is not able to offer prayers due to physical condition but here is a point to note that if Allah wanted her to pray even in that time, He would make her able to pray. But Allah wanted mother to keep close to her child in those days. In that period mother lives with her child and gets to know all the needs of her child.
In this time and age, when we study history of religions, the first example of child and mother bonding we can find which is recorded in the history that when Hadhrat Abraham (peace be upon him) left his child and his wife Hagar in that barren land of Arabia, Hagar ran after him and asked Abraham, Are you leaving us here? He did not answer. Then she asked him again saying, Are you leaving us here by the command of God? Abraham (peace be upon him) just pointed towards the sky. She understood this and said, Then God will not waste us, and returned to the baby. What a faithful lady she was! She trusted in God and He provided her with all the necessary things and protected them. The child grew in that atmosphere, under those circumstances and in due course this place became a town.
The second example we can find of a great mother in the history of religions which is also mentioned in the Old Testament, “And when she could no longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bul-rushes and daubed it with slime and with pitch, and put the child therein; and she laid it in the flags by the river’s brink. And his sister stood afar off, to wit what would be done to him. And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to wash herself at the river; and her maidens walked along by the river-side; and when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. And when she had opened it, she saw the child; and behold, the babe wept. And she had compassion on him; and said, this is one of the Hebrews children. Then said his sister to Pharaoh’s daughter, shall I go and call to thee a nurse of the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for thee? And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, go. And the maid went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said unto her, take this child away, and nurse it for me, and I will give thee thy wages. And the women took the child, and nursed it. And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and became her son. And she called his name Moses; and she said, because I drew him out of the water.” (Exodus 2:3) This statement from the Bible in essence is very close to what we have in the Holy Quran as an accurate account of Moses (peace be upon him). The mother of Moses was a very sincere believer and had a living relationship with God. After the birth of Moses (peace be upon him) she suckled him as God had directed her and when she felt otherwise then without any hesitation she placed the infant Moses in the ark (28:8, 20:40) and floated it in the river and directed her daughter to follow it. The daughter kept the watch over the ark in such a way that no one could perceive it. The ark was picked up by a member of the family of Pharaoh who happened to be bathing in the river. The ark was brought to the palace of Pharaoh, where his wife saw the beautiful Israelite baby. She was attracted towards the infant and pleaded with the husband saying, “... He will be a joy for my eyes and for you also, slay him not, hopefully he may prove to be useful for us or we may adopt him as a son.” (28:10) Then she sent for wet nurses for the baby. The baby did not accept any one of those who came. Meanwhile Moses (peace be upon him) sister managed to reach there and offered a solution to the problem saying, “... Shall I direct you to a people of a household who will bring him up for you and will be his sincere well-wishers?” (28:13)
They agreed and Pharaoh approached the mother of Moses (peace be upon him) for the nursing and upbringing of the child. She readily agreed to their proposal and the baby was given to her for upbringing and training on the expense of Pharaoh. The mother of Moses (peace be upon him) was so delighted over the return of her child according to Allah’s promise that she could hardly control her emotions. Her faith in Allah became even more solid. She was fully convinced that this child would be a prophet of Allah in due course as Allah had informed her earlier. So she spared no efforts in upbringing the child in the best manner. Moses (peace be upon him) had such a holy mother for benevolent care and guidance and a mighty monarch as guardian unto his manhood. He had a healthy and wholesome affect of his mother, overriding the evil ways and manner of his guardian monarch. He developed manly qualities of might and power and valor from palace on the one hand, and learned good manners and self-control over them from the pious mother on the other.
On the edge of Roman Empire there was a small country Palestine. In the Northern part of this country in a small hilly town called Nazareth, lived a girl named Mary. Her father’s name was Imran and mother’s was Hannah. Hannah made a vow before the birth of the child that she would dedicate her child life to the service of the Temple. Mary was not an ordinary girl, rather God has bestowed on her those qualities, which made her very special and extra ordinary child, as Hannah was hoping for. The Temple was headed by Zachariah, the High Priest, who according to the Holy Qura’an was also a Prophet of God. Thus according to God’s design, Mary was brought up under Zachariah’s holy and benign care. It is reported that right from her childhood she spent most of her time in the remembrance of God. Moreover, God had granted her not only material things but also wisdom that even at an early age she could interpret the Scriptures and answer complex questions in such a manner which were really beyond her age. This surprised Zachariah and addressed her, he said, “O’ Mary! Whence have you got all this?” She replied, “From Allah, of course. Surely, He gives His bounties to whomsoever He pleases Him without measure.” (Ch. 3:38)
Mary grew from childhood to womanhood in the church and lived a pious and chaste life. During her devotion she saw visions and was strengthened in her faith by the words of God. Angel told her that God had chosen her over all the ladies of her time. She should therefore remain devotedly engaged in His worship alone. She was in this state of devotion when one day she saw an angel in the form of a man, who conveyed her glad news from God that she would have a son. After receiving news from the angel, Mary felt conceived with the command of God in November or December of that year. On realizing this, she understood that God had changed her lifestyle and she could no longer continue her devotion in the church. Mary went to the east in Bethlehem, about seventy miles south of Nazareth to avoid the public eye. She had no one to help her in her difficulties except God. Having full trust in God and through the guidance from Him alone, she completed her time of pregnancy. At the time of delivery, Mary was strengthened by revelation and directed to the nearby rivulet and the ripe dates on the date palms standing at the slope close by her. She delivered Jesus (peace be upon him) in pain and was exhausted but soon regained strength by the dates and water. She followed the instructions of God and avoided communication with people and remained devoted to Him.
Why it is important to honour our mother? In some countries like Pakistan most of the children always hesitate to say their moms that they love her. There are some people in Pakistan wish their moms on Mother's Day and give them a gift or even say a line "Mom I love you". In every culture, people have different ways to express love for their families. Every cultural is unique and people act according to their traditions and social values. It is very much surprising that we feel hesitation to express our love for the personality who knows us more than any other person on the earth. I believe every day should be a Mother`s Day because, one year is too long to wait. Mother is such a precious jewel, most valuable pearl and most respectful person on this planet. It is the most important right of mother that a child should appreciate that she carried him (in her womb) the way nobody carries anybody. She fed him the fruits of her heart which nobody feeds anybody. She protected him (during pregnancy) with her ears, eyes, hands, legs, hair, limbs, (in short) with her whole being, gladly, cheerfully, and carefully, suffering patiently all the worries, pains, difficulties, and sorrows. Then this loving mother was most happy, feeding her child forgetting her own hunger, clothing him, giving him milk and food not caring her own, keeping him healthy, even if she had to suffer, giving him every comfort with her own hardships, lulling him to sleep while keeping herself awake.
However, we can never repay our mothers for what they have done for us, but we can at least try, and also ask Allah to bless her. Motherhood presents us with a model of loyalty and dedication. Our mothers are indeed a great blessing from Allah the Almighty. We should appreciate and value this blessing as much as we can. Whilst our mothers are alive, we have a golden opportunity to serve them, help them and make this world a paradise for them. How we can make this happen? We make them valuable by listening our mothers, being thankful our mothers, and being good to our mothers. We can make our mother happy by leading a good life. We can make our mother happy by having a good characteristics. One of the most important and effective way to show our love and affection to our mothers is to give them a gift. In this regard we should not forget any event as your mother's birthday, their wedding anniversary, mother's day or any events related to her according to our cultural and religious values. You should know about the likes of your mother, you can give her a photo frame with her picture of any memorable event as her wedding or any other. We can also bring a cake or ice cream for our mother. Another way to show our love to our mothers is to spend time with our moms at home. If it is difficult for due to the different duties, we should try to spare some time to spend with mother. We should express our love and affection for her. We can make her life comfortable by helping her in the household chores. In the modern society, many Families make a special Mother's Day dinner or take mom out to her favourite restaurant for a meal. It is a good day to let your mom relax and let her see what a wonderful family she has.
