How do I respond to someone who asks: "Is not Islam sent for all people? There are fathers and mothers who abandon their children in the streets, or a father who leaves his child with its pregnant mother and never sees it again. So how can the Qur’an command us to pray for mercy for our parents, just as they raised us when we were young?"

The Sharia encourages showing kindness to parents, as Allah has commanded kindness towards them and not to harm them, even in old age, and to pray for mercy upon them as a reward for their upbringing. Their rights increase as their upbringing increases. Allah has enjoined upon humans kindness towards their parents. Filial piety stems from mercy, and even if the parents' hearts lack compassion and kindness, this does not justify disobeying them. Rather, one must accompany them with kindness, even if they strive to make their child associate partners with Allah, as Allah the Almighty says: ﴿وَإِنْ جَاهَدَاكَ عَلَى أَنْ تُشْرِكَ بِي مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلْمٌ فَلَا تُطِعْهُمَا وَصَاحِبْهُمَا فِي الدُّنْيَا مَعْرُوفًا﴾ [And if they should strive to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, then do not obey them, but accompany them in [this] world with kindness]. Maintaining kinship ties in the face of injustice and mistreatment is considered among the highest degrees of upholding kinship ties.