religion, then she started to eat and drink. Upon this, Allah Almighty revealed this Ayah and commanded to treat parents nicely and if they command you to commit Kufr [disbelief] and shirk [polytheism], then it shall not be obeyed. (Khaza’in-ul-‘Irfan, pp. 735; summarised)

What shall children do if parents fight with each other?

A’la Hadrat, Imam-e-Ahl-e-Sunnat, Maulana Shah Imam Ahmad Raza Khan  رَحْمَةُ اللهِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه states: If parents have a fight, then one shall neither be on the side of the mother nor on the side of the father. It shall not be the case that out of the love for mother, one treats his father harshly. Hurting father’s feelings, answering him rudely, or talking to him disrespectfully by staring into his eyes are all Haraam acts and disobedience to Allah Almighty. It is not permissible at all for children to be on the side of one of the parent. Both of them are his Paradise and Hell. Whoever he hurts, he will be deserving of the hellfire. وَالْعِیَاذُ بِاللّٰہ (I seek Allah’s refuge).

Obeying someone in disobeying Allah Almighty is not permissible. For example, mother wants son to harm his father in any way. And in case the son does not agree to do so, i.e. he does not agree to be harsh to the father, then she gets displeased. Then he shall let his mother get displeased and not listen to her in this matter at all. Similarly, he shall not listen to his father if he wants him to do the same for his mother. How Islamic scholars have divided this is that the mother has priority in being served whereas dignity lies more for father as he is the master of even his mother. (Samundari Gumbad, pp. 21)

What if parents command to disobey Allah Almighty?

We come to know that if parents command to do something impermissible, then do not listen to them. If you obey them in impermissible things, then you will become a sinner. For example, parents instruct you to lie or leave Salah, then do not listen to them at all in these matters. No matter how displeased they get, you will not be considered to be disobedient. However, if you do listen to them, then you will definitely be disobedient to Allah Almighty. Similarly, if parents get divorced and mother insists so much and commands her children not to meet their father, then the children shall not