How can one reconcile seeking the pleasure of Allah with seeking the pleasure of one's mother, especially when the mother's desires conflict with voluntary fasting, or the recommended pursuit of Islamic knowledge, or adopting the obligatory in jurisprudential matters that she considers recommended, or adopting the prohibited in matters that she considers permissible?

To relieve you from the difficulty of not obeying your mother regarding the abandonment of supererogatory prayers, it is sufficient that she does not obligate you to do so. Furthermore, there are matters that will assist you in honoring your parents:

1. Honoring parents brings good in this world and the hereafter, and it is a key to every good. 2. If you abandon a supererogatory act to honor your parents, Allah will record its reward for you, along with the reward for honoring parents. 3. Goodness may lie in missing these supererogatory acts, because honoring parents often leads to the best outcomes. Allah may divert you from a supererogatory act for a greater good, or to protect you from conceit and arrogance. 4. Realizing that your ultimate goal is Allah's pleasure, and that honoring parents is one of the greatest means to achieve it. 5. Honoring parents is among the strongest reasons for steadfastness in religion and for opening the doors of knowledge and mercy. 6. Appreciating the blessing of having parents as a gate to Paradise. 7. Understanding that servitude to Allah means that a person does not choose a specific act of obedience for themselves, but rather leaves their affairs to Allah, like a corpse in the hands of its washer. This includes obeying parents, as long as it does not involve disobedience to Allah.

Generally, a person will not succeed and be granted prosperity except by the pleasure of Allah, and then by the pleasure of parents.