Love starts and ends with a mother...

We are all familiar with the word mom or mother, but perhaps we don’t realise what does it denote? Possibly, the ones who lost their mothers understand more what it stands for! Basically, motherhood overall as a phrase is by its own represents various values and meanings. In one way, it’s regarded the best and the toughest job in the world. As Kahil Gibran stated that mother is the most beautiful word on the lips of mankind.

A mother as a one word cannot be defined in a single phrase; it embodies all the love a human being could possibly offer. She is not just someone who gives birth to a child as we know. If somebody asks you what does the word mother mean to you? Most people would answer that a mother represents the combination of feelings, behaviours and sacrifices offered while bringing up a child. Whether that child is biologically hers or not, all mothers share the same feelings.

To tell the truth, mother’s love is peace for all, so it need not be acquired, but to be deserved. As it has been said that motherhood is where love begins and ends. Hence, it might be impossible to count the ways by which a mother expresses her love.

Where loving warmth meets a teachable moment, that’s where you will find a mother who is confidently applying her exceptional ability to be everything you will ever need.

With a capability for adapting, a mother goes from being a teacher to a comforter to a selfless giver in just a matter of minutes. She is the only woman in the world who will constantly forgive your lies, no matter how big they are. Your mother will still give you that warm smile just minutes after you misbehaved and made her angry. A mother will tolerate the pain caused when you reject her. She will be the only one supporting and lifting your spirits whenever you are feeling down.

A mother always leaves all her personal needs behind, so her children can have everything she needs. For instance, she won’t sleep or eat until you come back home and make sure you are safe and sound. A mother will

protect her children with the price of her own life.

She does all these things with unconditional love and she won’t stop just because you are 40 years old and live in a different place or away from home. May the Almighty Allah bless all mothers.

In Islam, mothers have been highly praised and accorded great honour. There are verses in Holy Quran emphasise the burdens that a mother carries and the respect that should be accorded to her. The verses of the Quran that

address the mother emphasise the difficulties of pregnancy, labour and breastfeeding and the need to respect one’s mother.

The verses say: “And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning (period) is thirty months.”

How Muslims should treat their parents, especially the mother, is highlighted in the Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) saying: “A man came to the Prophet and said, ‘O Messenger of God! Who among the people is the most worthy of my good companionship? The Prophet (PBUH) said: Your mother. The man said, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man further asked, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your mother. The man asked again, ‘Then who?’ The Prophet said: Then your father”. There are many instances where the Prophet commanded Muslims to respect their mothers.

Dear mothers, always remember that motherhood is a great honour, but a challenge at the same time. Everyday women are called upon to selflessly meet the needs of their families.

Whether they are awake at night nursing a baby, spending their time and money on their teenagers, or preparing meals, mothers constantly put others before themselves.