Back to search

Does the Hadith, "Who among the people is most deserving of my good companionship?" contradict the Quranic verses that mention kindness to both parents?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The preference for the mother over the father in righteousness (birr) is not a matter of consensus, but the majority prefer the mother due to the prophetic hadith, and this is the most preponderant view. This preference does not contradict the Quran; rather, some verses allude to it, such as His (Allah's) saying: (His mother carried him, in weakness upon weakness). The mother is uniquely burdened with the hardship of pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding, then she shares with the father in upbringing. The majority opinion is that the mother is preferred over the father in righteousness. In cases where the requests of both parents conflict, some scholars believe in prioritizing the mother, such as Al-Layth, Al-Muhasibi, and Abu Hanifa, and this is the apparent view of Malik, while the Shafi'is hold that both parents are equal.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

Read the full answer on Ftawy