Today, on Father’s Day, I’m thankful for Dad.Narrated by Abu Huraira,
رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ جَاءَ رَجُلٌ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَنْ أَحَقُّ بِحُسْنِ صَحَابَتِي قَالَ ” أُمُّكَ ”. قَالَ ثُمَّ مَنْ قَالَ ” أُمُّكَ ”. قَالَ ثُمَّ مَنْ قَالَ ” أُمُّكَ ”. قَالَ ثُمَّ مَنْ قَالَ ” ثُمَّ أَبُوكَ ”. وَقَالَ ابْنُ شُبْرُمَةَ وَيَحْيَى بْنُ أَيُّوبَ حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو زُرْعَةَ مِثْلَهُ.
A man came to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) and said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! Who is more entitled to be treated with the best companionship by me?” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Your mother.” The man said. “Who is next?” The Prophet said, “Your mother.” The man further said, “Who is next?” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Your mother.” The man asked for the fourth time, “Who is next?” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Your father. “
And that more or less sums up my relationship with my parents… I’d like to be closer to both of them, but Mom lives in Arkansas and I can’t be bothered to pick up the phone to call her, and Dad lives and works maybe a half hour away, but we spent more than 20 years with very little contact and he leads a very busy and stressful life these days, so I don’t see much of him either.
I guess it’s to the point, now that I’m near enough to 40, that we’re all adults and just fit one another in whenever we can (or care to), but I’d really like to be a bit closer to Alex. He probably wouldn’t win any Best Dad awards, but I have some good memories, and, anyway, I’m a long long long long way from best son too, so it’s a wash. I just don’t know how, and, anyway, it takes two to tango.
Anyway, today, on Father’s Day, I’m thankful for Dad, and I’m thankful I got to spend a bit of time with him on his lunch break. May Allah bless him for his efforts to take care of his wife and mother-in-law, and may He guide Dad to worship Him alone, without any partners or intermediaries, ameen.
