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Prophet Muhammad(PBUH)encouraged people to respect the elderly and honor them
The Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:
“A sign of glo- rifying Allah is to honor an aged Muslim, and the person who memo- rizes the Quran, who is neither negligent nor extravagant with regard to it, and to honor the ruler who is fair.”1
Al-’Atheem Abaadi (a scholar) said: “The term, “to honor an aged Mus- lim” means, honoring an old person and showing respect to him in gatherings, being kind to him and things of the sort. The Prophet of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, counted this a sign of the person honoring his Lord and glorifying Him. This is because an old person has a special rank with Allah as he has lived longer (than youngsters) as a Muslim. Also, this respect is a way for the commu- nity he lives in to demonstrate his rights upon them, because it is a right that wasgranted to him by Islam.”2
The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, mentioned the one who memorizes the Quran, the aged Muslim, and the just ruler together in this narration. However, he mentioned honoring the aged Muslim before the others. It is as if to say, honor the elderly Muslim just like you would honor a just ruler, and honor the elderly Muslim just like you would hon- or a person who memorizes the Quran.
Anas (a Companion) narrated:
“An old man came wanting to talk to the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. People did not make room for him to sit. Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “He is not one of us who shows no mercy to younger ones and does not acknowledge the honor due to our elders.”3
Another narration reads:
“He is not one of us who shows no mercy to younger ones and does not acknowledge the rights due to our elders.”4
The term: “he is not one of us” means, he is not upon our way (of prac- ticing the religion). This is another way to say he is free from such people and disowns them. He, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, disowned such people from being upon his way. A Muslim does not disrespect elderly people; the Muslim community does not recognize one who does not honor and glorify aged Muslims as part of their community.
المراجع
- Reported by Abu Daawood (4843).
- ‘Awn Al-Ma’bood (132/13).
- Reported by At-Tirmithi (1919).
- Reported by Abu Daawood (4943) on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr.
