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Are there any Quranic verses, prophetic hadiths, or other sources, indicating the obligation for parents to treat their children well?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The rights of parents are great, but they do not permit them to wrong their child, for injustice is forbidden to all, and everyone is accountable before Allah. Just as parents have rights over their children, children also have rights over their parents. If parents command disobedience, there is no obedience to them; obedience is only in what is good. Parents do not have the right to force their daughter to marry someone she does not desire; neither parent has the right to compel their child to marry someone they do not wish, and if the child refuses, they are not considered disobedient. The majority of scholars hold that if a father is self-sufficient, he does not have the right to take anything from his child's wealth without their consent. However, the Hanbalis permit this for the father even if he is not in need, provided he does not inflict severe hardship on the child's wealth. The rights of parents are not forfeited by their injustice or their commanding disobedience; rather, it is obligatory to treat them with kindness and keep them company in a good manner, even if they are polytheists and command polytheism. They should be advised gently and respectfully.

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

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