Happy Mother’s Day to my dear Mum,

Author of my personality:
Pleased, I hope, with what you read in me;
Pleased, I hope, with episodes to come.
Yet now I, too, would get some pleasure from
Making you the book in which I see,
Of all the players in my family,
The central character, whom I would plumb.
How beautiful to move in that direction!
Each to each a separate source of pleasure,
Reading in the other’s happiness,
‘Mid much description, underlying love.
So would we deepen the connection,
Discovering new passages to treasure
As we follow time towards tenderness,
Yearning for what years unread will prove.

Her Life Was Not as Glorious as Some

Happy Mother’s Day to my dear Mum,

Author of my personality:
Pleased, I hope, with what you read in me;
Pleased, I hope, with episodes to come.
Yet now I, too, would get some pleasure from
Making you the book in which I see,
Of all the players in my family,
The central character, whom I would plumb.
How beautiful to move in that direction!
Each to each a separate source of pleasure,
Reading in the other’s happiness,
‘Mid much description, underlying love.
So would we deepen the connection,
Discovering new passages to treasure
As we follow time towards tenderness,
Yearning for what years unread will prove.
 A Working Mother's Always at the Mercy
A working mother's always at the mercy
Of those she has entrusted with her child.
Her heart berates her frequently but tersely
'Til once again she sees that fortune's smiled.
I'm blessed that I can trust you so completely
With the person who is closest to my heart.
You care for him not only well but sweetly,
Loving him as I when we're apart.
I cannot bear to think what I would do
If I could not be easy in my choice.
I thank the Lord each day that I have you,
And in that fortune silently rejoice.
Thank you for the care and love you give.
Without you I don't know how I would live.

Although a Daughter, I Write This as a Mother

Although a daughter, I write this as a mother.
We're both mothers now, of child-daughters:
You, a grandmother forced to be a mother,
And I, a widow, alone with my fatherless daughter.
Death has thus shaped both our lives in ways
We would not have chosen. Yet life is still the bright,
Painfully lovely thing it was always:
Our children like dancers on a dark, splendid night,
Needing our loves as I needed yours; your love
The same song as ever, a lullaby I remember
So well from my time in your arms. We move
In slow spirals towards the stars. September
Has weeks like June, yet is closer to the fall.
Love has no answers, yet its beauty answers all.

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people,
promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,

Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
But only one mother the wide world over.
~George Cooper
Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment is
pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

The sweetest sounds to mortals given

Are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven.
~William Goldsmith Brown

A suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car

forever after. ~Peter De Vries

If the whole world were put into one scale, and my mother in the other, the whole
world would kick the beam. ~Lord Langdale (Henry Bickersteth)

All mothers are working mothers. ~Author Unknown

It would seem that something which means poverty, disorder and violence every
single day should be avoided entirely, but the desire to beget children is a natural
urge. ~Phyllis Diller

The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before.
The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely
new. ~Rajneesh

Woman in the home has not yet lost her dignity, in spite of Mother's Day, with its
offensive implication that our love needs an annual nudging, like our enthusiasm
for the battle of Bunker Hill. ~John Erskine

A Freudian slip is when you say one thing but mean your mother. ~Author
Unknown

Sweater, n.: garment worn by child when its mother is feeling chilly. ~Ambrose
Bierce

Women's Liberation is just a lot of foolishness. It's the men who are
discriminated against. They can't bear children. And no one's likely to do
anything about that. ~Golda Meir
All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does.
That's his. ~Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother
always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. ~Sophia Loren,
Women and Beauty

Mothers are fonder than fathers of their children because they are more certain
they are their own. ~Aristotle

Mother love is the fuel that enables a normal human being to do the impossible.
~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the
Mother's Soul

Mother - that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries. ~T.
DeWitt Talmage

A man's work is from sun to sun, but a mother's work is never done. ~Author
Unknown

A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the
longest. ~Irish Proverb

The real religion of the world comes from women much more than from men -
from mothers most of all, who carry the key of our souls in their bosoms. ~Oliver
Wendell Holmes

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers. ~Jewish Proverb

Motherhood is priced
Of God, at price no man may dare
To lessen or misunderstand.
~Helen Hunt Jackson

Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother. ~Oprah Winfrey

You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a
merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents
will always wave back. ~William D. Tammeus

Now that... my kids are grown, I understand how much work and love it takes to
raise and to keep a family together. The example of your strength, devotion, and
patience is now rippling through the generations. Thank you! ~Forest
Houtenschil

My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being. I

may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune. ~Graycie
Harmon

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever

to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six
children, and no theories. ~John Wilmot

Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn't have anything to
do with it. ~Haim Ginott

Are we not like two volumes of one book? ~Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

It kills you to see them grow up. But I guess it would kill you quicker if they
didn't. ~Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams

Who fed me from her gentle breast

And hushed me in her arms to rest,
And on my cheek sweet kisses prest?
My Mother.
~Anne Taylor

On Mother's Day I have written a poem for you. In the interest of poetic economy
and truth, I have succeeded in concentrating my deepest feelings and beliefs into
two perfectly crafted lines: You're my mother, I would have no other! ~Forest
Houtenschil

Children are a great comfort in your old age - and they help you reach it faster,
too. ~Lionel Kauffman

Sing out loud in the car even, or especially, if it embarrasses your children.
~Marilyn Penland

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.
~Charles R. Swindoll, The Strong Family

Now the thing about having a baby - and I can't be the first person to have
noticed this - is that thereafter you have it. ~Jean Kerr

There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it. ~Chinese
Proverb

Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. ~Red
Buttons

If nature had arranged that husbands and wives should have children
alternatively, there would never be more than three in a family. ~Lawrence
Housman

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children. ~William
Makepeace Thackeray

Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children. ~Sam Levenson

The one thing children wear out faster than shoes is parents. ~John J. Plomp

Setting a good example for your children takes all the fun out of middle age.
~William Feather, The Business of Life, 1949

Your responsibility as a parent is not as great as you might imagine. You need
not supply the world with the next conqueror of disease or major motion-picture
star. If your child simply grows up to be someone who does not use the word
"collectible" as a noun, you can consider yourself an unqualified success. ~Fran
Lebowitz, "Parental Guidance," Social Studies, 1981

This heart, my own dear mother, bends,

With love's true instinct, back to thee!
~Thomas Moore

Getting down on all fours and imitating a rhinoceros stops babies from crying.
(Put an empty cigarette pack on your nose for a horn and make loud "snort"
noises.) I don't know why parents don't do this more often. Usually it makes the
kid laugh. Sometimes it sends him into shock. Either way it quiets him down. If
you're a parent, acting like a rhino has another advantage. Keep it up until the
kid is a teenager and he definitely won't have his friends hanging around your
house all the time. ~P.J. O'Rourke

I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich. ~Dan Wilcox and Thad
Mumford, M*A*S*H, "Identity Crisis,"

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having
neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as
they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift
them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest
away. ~Dinah Craik

Where we love is home - home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame
by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those
people who rekindle the inner spirit. ~Albert Schweitzer

You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't
feel you've done a permanent job. ~Laurence J. Peter

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners
who make our souls blossom. ~Marcel Proust
If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in
my garden. ~Attributed to Claudia Ghandi

Paradise Is At the Feet of Mothers

From Joshua Brockwell, CAIR

May 6 2005
A man once consulted the Prophet Muhammad about taking part in a military campaign. The Prophet asked
the man if his mother was still living. When told that she was alive, the Prophet said: "(Then) stay with her,
for Paradise is at her feet." (Al-Tirmidhi)

On another occasion, the Prophet said: "God has forbidden for you to be undutiful to your mothers." (Sahih
Al-Bukhari)

One of the things I have always appreciated about my adopted faith is not only its emphasis on maintaining
the bonds of kinship, but also the high regard in which women, particularly mothers, are held. The Quran,
Islam's revealed text, states: "And revere the wombs that bore you, for God is ever watchful over you." (4:1)

It should be obvious that our parents deserve our utmost respect and devotion - second only to God.

Can Muslims Celebrate Mother's Day?

After God, mothers are the most important force in all of our lives.

There was a time in my life when I thought Mother's Day to be a holiday of the "infidels," not worthy of
celebration by a Muslim. Time and wisdom have taught me otherwise. Mother's Day is an American cultural
practice that is wholly consistent with Islam's principles.

The Qur'an places kindness to the parents on par with proper worship of God: "Worship and serve God, do
not associate any partners with Him, and do good to your parents..."(4:36). The textual juxtaposition of
worshipping God and honoring the parents is not coincidental. Maltreatment of parents is one of the most
deadly sins in all of Islam. Furthermore, God implores believers to extend the hand of mercy to their parents:
"Thy Lord hath decreed that ye worship none but Him, and that ye be kind to parents. Whether one or both
of them attain old age in thy life, say not to them a word of contempt, nor repel them, but address them in
terms of honour. And, out of kindness, lower to them the wing of humility, and say: 'My Lord! bestow on them
thy Mercy even as they cherished me in childhood'" (17:23-24).

After God, my mother has been the source of my strength, my success, my life-force. Everything I
am I owe to her. She taught me how to be a man; how to be a husband; how to be a father; how
to be a son. Most importantly, she gave me God, and she taught me how to worship and see Him
in everything that I do. She ingrained in me the importance of developing a personal relationship
with God and developing that relationship throughout my life. Had it not been for my mother, I
most probably would not have either known or discovered the beauty of the worship and love of
God.
This Mother's Day, however, and every Mother's Day thereafter, in fact, is even more special. I
live with another mother who is as important to me: my wife. She is nothing short of a miracle for
me. She came to me during the darkest days of my spiritual life, in the depths of my loneliness.
She was a precious gift from God, a diamond in the rough. Her amazing character, her fortitude,
her maturity, her strength of will is nothing short of inspiring to me. I thank God from the depths of
my heart for this most undeserved blessing.

I feed off of her strength. I was in awe of her strength after seeing her endure two difficult
pregnancies. She showed her true magnanimity, however, soon after we returned from the Hajj.
When our daughter was diagnosed with a crippling genetic disorder, Ataxia-Telangiectasia, my
wife was surely devastated. I knew she was crying, no screaming, inside, but tears rarely
streamed down her beautiful countenance. She, like me, decided to move on, and she was
determined to help our daughter the best way she can.

Dutifulness to parents, especially the mother, and treating them kindly is an act of worship enjoined in

both the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Being dutiful to

parents is not confined to a specific time. It is an obligation that should be observed every time, as all

people commonly know.

Yet, the Mother's Day, as it's known nowadays is a Western habit. The Westerners specified a day and

called it the Mother's Day. On that day sons and daughters show gratefulness to their mothers and offer

them presents. It has become part of important feasts in the West, whereas we Muslims have no other

festivals except the Lesser and the Greater Bairams. Any other celebrations are deemed mere occasions

or anniversaries; and this is applied to the Mother's Day.

The Mother's Day implies paying more attention and exerting more effort in expressing gratitude to

mothers. So there is nothing wrong in that.

However, there are two reservations worth mentioning; first, considering the Mother's Day a feast;

second, confining the task of showing dutifulness to mothers to that specific day, giving implication that

throughout the whole year, just only one day is for showing love to parents. If such two anomalous points

are addressed, then there is nothing wrong in considering the Mother's Day a chance to give more care to

mothers.

Thus, we may take the Mother's Day as a chance to lay more emphasis on our duty towards our mothers,

as Islam enjoins us, because dutifulness to parents is a genuine Islamic teaching. But Muslims, in doing
that, should never deviate from the Islamic teachings, they should do things in Islamic manners, not in

Western manners. Hence, they would not be imitating the non-Islamic habits of the West.

Hence, viewed in juristic perspective, we can say that celebrating the Mother's day is controversial among

the contemporary scholars. While a group of them consider it haram (unlawful) as a kind of blind

imitation of the Western non-Islamic habits, which have no benefit for Muslims, another group see it halal

(lawful) on condition that showing gratitude and dutifulness to parents should not be confined to that day

only.

Moreover, the well known erudite scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi states:

The Arab tend to blindly follow the Western in their celebration of the Mother's Day, without trying to

understand the wisdom behind inventing such an occasion.

When the European found that children do not deal properly towards their parents nor give them their

due right, they resorted to specifying an annual occasion for children to remedy the situation. But in

Islam, mothers are to be given due respect and love every time, not only one day a year. For example,

when one goes out, he kisses one's mother's hand seeking her pleasure and blessing.

A Muslim must not allow any gap between him and his mother, he must offer her presents every time. This

indicates that Muslims can dispense with such an occasion, the Mother's Day. Unlike the case in the West,

where it's a vogue for some children to show indifference to their mothers' feelings, and, what's more, it

is so common to see some parents being dragged to infirmaries (as their kids have no time for them),

dutifulness to parents in Islam, alongside with worshipping Allah, is a sacred duty.

In this concern, Almighty Allah says: (And We have commended unto man kindness toward parents. His

mother beareth him with reluctance, and bringeth him forth with reluctance, and the bearing of him

and the weaning of him is thirty months, till, when he attaineth full strength and reacheth forty

years, he saith: My Lord! Arouse me that I may give thanks for the favor wherewith Thou hast favored

me and my parents, and that I may do right acceptable unto Thee. And be gracious unto me In the

matter of my seed. Lo! I have turned unto Thee repentant, and lo! I am of those who surrender (unto

Thee).) (Al-Ahqaf 46: 15)

Reflecting on the aforementioned Qur'anic verse, we find it stressing both parents' right, but reviewing

the following verses we find them paying special care to the mother and tackling the hardships she suffers

in pregnancy, fosterage and rearing children.

In this verse, Almighty Allah informs man of the debt he owes his mother since he was a fetus, passing by

the process of childbirth, infancy, childhood until he comes of age. A child normally forgets the hardship

which his mother underwent during pregnancy. Hence Almighty Allah draws his attention to such

hardships, laying emphasis on her great status in Islam.

Finally, Dr. `Abdul Fattah `Ashoor, professor of Qur'an Exegisis at Al-Azhar University, concludes:

Holding celebrations in honoring others and commemorating anniversaries are neither feasts nor Islamic.

But one may seize any chance to express gratitude to those who deserve it. This is how we should

consider the Mother's Day. The mother has a special place in the Islamic culture, and all other civilized

cultures. So it is something good to do anything to please her and show gratefulness to her.

So dedicating a day to showing good feelings towards parents, especially the mother, is by no means

blameworthy as it does not contradict the Islamic teachings, nor can it be merely considered a form of

joining the Western vogue of making celebrations. Conversely, it is a kind of devotion to Allah's orders that

we should be dutiful to our parents.

Lovely Stories: Parents are a Great Gift from Allah! (Happy Parent's Day, Islam and
Parents)
When we were young, we loved to play with our Mum and Dad. When we grow up, many of
us leave them and only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble.
No matter what, parents are always there and give everything they could just to make us
happy.

It is time to really evaluate what kind of relationship we have with our parents. Below are
few questions that may help:

1. When was the last time you visited your parents if not living with your parents?

2. When was the last time you called your parents if not
living with your parents? For Muslims follower of
Islam, Every Year and Month
and Day and Hour and
3. Do you think your parents are happy with you? IF not
Minute and Second is
then there is a Serious Problem and you need to correct
Mother's Day, Father's Day
IMMEDIATELY.
and Parent's Day

4. Have you ever said "Ugf (Oh!)" to your parents? Don't forget the following Ayaat:

"And your Lord has commanded that you shall not serve (any) but Him, and goodness to
your parents. If either or both of them reach old age with you, say not to them (so much as)
"Ugh" nor chide them, and speak to them a generous word. And make yourself submissively
gentle to them with compassion, and say: O my Lord! Have compassion on them, as they
brought me up (when I was) little." Noble Quran (17:23-24)

5. What is it that your parents really wants to have, is that against the Holy Quran and
Authentic Sunnah? IF not then there is a Serious Problem and you need to correct
IMMEDIATELY.

6. What are the things that make your parents happy or sad?

7. How many minutes do you engage in "quality talk" with your parents in a week if not in a
day?

8. When was the last time you cooked for your parents?

9. When was the last time you gave your parents a gift?
Lovely Stories: I LOVE YOU MOTHER! (Happy Mother's Day)
 After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to
dinner or refreshment. She said, "I love you, but I know this other woman
loves you and would love to spend some time with you."

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a
widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it
possible to visit her only occasionally.

That night, I called to invite her to go out for dinner. "What's wrong, are you well?" she
asked...

I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you, I responded. "Just the two
of us," She thought about it for a moment, and then said, "I would like that very much."

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at
her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the
door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn
to celebrate her last wedding anniversary.

She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel's. "I told my friends that I was going
to go out with my son, and they were impressed," she said, as she got into the car. "They
can't wait to hear about our meeting." We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant,
was very nice and cozy.

My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the
menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes
and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. It was I who
used to have to read the menu when you were small, she said.

Then it's time that you relax and let me return the favor, I responded.

During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation - nothing extraordinary but catching up
on recent events of each other's life. As we arrived at her house later, she said, "I'll go out
with you again, but only if you let me invite you." I agreed.

How was your dinner date? asked my wife when I got home. "Very nice! Much more so than
I could have imagined," I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. I could not do anything for her.
Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same
place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: "I paid this bill in advance. I wasn't
sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates one for you and the other
for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son."

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: "I LOVE YOU" and to give
our loved ones the time that they deserve.

Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till. "some other
time."
Lovely Stories: (Happy Mother's Day), A MOTHER IS:
The DENTIST who uses a string.

The SUNSHINE on a cloudy day.

The STORY TELLER when you can't get to sleep.

The HAIR STYLIST on the night of the prom.

The DOCTOR who cures poison ivy.

The TEACHER who teaches about life.

The SEAMSTRESS who patches torn jeans.

The COMEDIAN who makes you laughs when you're down.

The CHEERLEADER at all sports activities.

The NURSE who bandages a scraped knee.

The ARTIST who teaches finger painting.

The LAUNDRY LADY who keeps you dressed so nice.

Wajoode Zan Se Hai

The BAKER who makes chocolate chip cookies. Tasweer-e-Kainaat Me Rang.
i.e., The beauty and color of
The TUTOR who helps with homework. universe is due to the
presence of women. [Dr.
The COUNSELOR who gives guidance. Allama Iqbal, May Allah bless
his soul]
The CLEANING LADY who finds the bedroom floor.

The TOOTH FAIRY who rewards you for your pain.

The HEALER of your first broken heart.

The CHAUFFEUR for all social events.

The DISHWASHER who never complains.

The SELF-ESTEEM BUILDER for everyone.

The COOK who keeps the meals balanced.

The DREAM CATCHER who helps find dreams.

The KLEENEX that dries the tears.

The KEY that unlocks the door to the future.

Woman is the only creature
The JUDGE who makes decisions with wisdom. that can bring up individuals
in her lap, who would be
blessed enough to lead a
The PARTY PLANNER who makes you popular.
society, even societies, to
endurance and elevated
human values. [Imam
Khomeini, May Allah bless his
soul]