“All houses are dark, until the Mother wakes up.”—Kahlil Gibran

Isn’t that the truth? When mum wakes up, she gets us all up to face our responsibilities, perform our prayers, get ready for work, for school, whatever we have to do.

Chop chop, mum gets us up! The house then descends into a fury of activity and productivity. Mothers are simply awesome.

Last weekend mothers were honoured and celebrated in various outpourings of love, respect and gratitude – as mothers so absolutely deserve.

Islam teaches us to show utmost respect to our parents and be grateful towards them in order to please Allah the Almighty. As Muslims, we are obliged to take care of our parents as they did to us when we depended on them – with utmost respect, patience, kindness and affection.

Indeed, one of the Ten Commandments of the Bible, commands that mothers and fathers be honoured.

Most mothers are recognised for their unconditional love for their children, and indeed they have dedicated their lives to motherhood.

Some mothers haven’t lived up to being so virtuous for reasons they can’t even explain. I suppose they were only meant to house their offspring – which too is a vital task – and for that they must be given due respect, such as the following quote by Nayyirah Waheed depicts: “My mother was my first country; the first place I ever lived.”

Mothers come in all forms and descriptions so it’s unfair to put labels on what constitutes a “good” mother or a “bad” mother. Vocabulary.com describes a mother as this: “The woman who gave birth to you. Mothers are parents, the female equivalent of a father. Besides biological mothers, there are stepmothers and adopted mothers; they all do mothering, which means taking care of children (or, sometimes, being overprotective of children). Oddly enough, a mother is also slimy substance that forms during the fermentation of wine or cider. But in any case, mothers give and sustain life.”

I like that description, it sums up mothers beautifully.

Parents, single or together, are known by the grace of God to make miracles happen to make our children happy. My darling granddaughter, Aayah, sent me the following quote. We don’t know the source but it is a profound statement that I’m sure most of us can relate to:

“When your parents aren’t rich, but they still afford to give you a beautiful life, please appreciate their sacrifice.”

That’s the phenomenon of the love we have for our children and grandchildren. And by the grace and mercy of God, we make miracles happen for our children, be it that school trip, tuition fees, birthday present, we attempt to make it happen. And when all else fails, we have taught our children patience and understanding, that whatever it is they wanted can’t be gotten – yet.

Because of the role the mother plays it’s her duty to give wise, understanding, life skills and lessons to our children to enable them to become well-rounded adults.

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said in a Hadith “that paradise lies at the feet of the mother”.

Abu Huraira reported that a person asked Allah’s messenger, “Who among the people is most deserving of my good treatment?”

He said: “Your mother.”

He was asked this question three times and again he replied, “Your mother, again your mother, then your father, then your nearest relatives according to the order (of nearness).” Book 32, Number 6181.

This displays the importance of one’s mother.

Also, Islam considered kindness to both parents next to the worship of God. “And we have enjoined upon man (to be good) to his parents: His mother bears him in weakness upon weakness …” (Koran 31:14)

I could go on and on about mothers and parents to drive home the point that every day is mother’s day. We should shower our mothers with love, respect and prayers, giving them honour even when they have left this earthly abode. Let’s make our mothers and others who have served as mothers happy every day.

Bermuda, have a blessed and peaceful weekend with lots of happy mothering!

As salaam alaikum.

• Linda Walia Ming is a member of the Bermuda Hijab Dawah Team, a group of Muslim women who reside in Bermuda and have a goal of educating the community about the religion of Islam