Flowers for the Women Wearing Veils - Volume I — Page 173
! ! 173 parents , because a person of any faith would agree that men [and women] have the responsibility to take care of their parents , and that t he y care for them within their capa city. It is not as if the parents raise d their sons and not their daughters. Al so, it is not as if the sons were born, and the daughters fell from the heavens. I n fact, both are nurtured in the same way and born in the same way, and the parents go through the same trials a nd difficulties for both. Therefore, just as men have an obligation to care for their parents, the same follows for women , who should assist thei r parents. Therefore, the question does not arise here of whether it is permissible for daughters to help their parents. The Various Aspects of t h is Question Before anything can be resolved , one must look at all the v arious aspects to an y question. We cannot simply categorically issue directives regarding prayer, fast, Zakat , and Hajj. Shariah includes exceptions to the rule , and we must be respectful of that. Thus, if the question here, i s whether a woman can help her parents, th en the answer would be that she should certainly help them, and she should never shy from being as kind and consider ate towards them as possible. However, there are certain othe r aspects to this question which must be kept in mi nd. For example, the first factor we should consider is that although one can sacrifice one’s wealth, physical efforts , time , and comfort for a short while, but it is not possible to continue this sacrifice indefinitely. A person can tolerate any hardship for some time, but he cannot continuously bear it for eternity. Haz rat Abu Bakr ’s ra Sincerity Haz rat Abu Bakr ’s ra spirit of sacrifice can be judged by an incident which took place when the Holy Prophet sa initiated a scheme to raise funds. Ha z rat ‘ Umar ra relates, “I thought to myself that today presents an opportunity where I can surpass Haz rat Abu Bakr ra. ” With this thought in mind , he laid half of his wealth before the Holy Prophet sa. When the Holy Prophet sa asked Haz rat ‘ Umar ra how much he had brought, he replied, “I have brought half of my wealth and left the other half for my family. ” The Holy Prophet sa then asked