Basic
Social Conduct
Surah: Al-Ahqaf (15)
We Enjoined Man to Be Good to His Parents — His Mother Bore Him in Hardship — The Mother and the Scale of Sacrifice
حَمَلَتۡهُ أُمُّهُۥ كُرۡهٗا وَوَضَعَتۡهُ كُرۡهٗا
— الأحقاف الآية 15
Verse: "We enjoined man to be good to his parents — his mother bore him with hardship and gave birth in hardship." (46:15) — "In hardship" twice — pregnancy in hardship (weight, fatigue, restriction) and childbirth in hardship (labor pain). Then "his bearing and weaning are thirty months" — thirty months of sacrifice before completing his upbringing. This description is to remind the person they came into the world at a price — paid by their mother. One who is arrogant toward their mother is arrogant toward the one who paid the price of their life. "Until he reaches full strength and reaches forty years he says: My Lord enable me to be grateful for Your blessing" — the prayer of the mature person who realized the scale of what was given. Lesson: forty years of life = forty years of divine provisions requiring the prayer "My Lord enable me to be grateful."
Source: Ibn Kathir (7/270); Al-Sadi
Test Yourself
What is the significance of repeating "in hardship" twice in describing pregnancy and childbirth?
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