Do I Have to Keep in Touch With My Mother’s Friends?
Answered by Shaykh Abdurragmaan Khan
Question: Assalam alaykum,
Do I have to keep in touch with my mother’s friends?
Answer: Wa alaykum salam
May Allah reward you for your question.
Islamic law has placed emphasis on maintaining good ties with all, Muslim and non-Muslim. This emphasis is further emphasized in relation to parents and relatives. In addition, the Hadith of the Messenger sallaLlahu alayhi wasallam, specifically encourages the maintaining of ties with the friends of one’s parents.
Imam Muslim narrates in his Sahih that a bedouin met AbduLlah ibn ‘Umar radiyaLlahu anhu on the road to Mecca. AbduLlah radiyaLlahu anhu, then greeted him, made him ride on his donkey and gifted him the turban that he was wearing. Those accompanying AbduLlah ibn ‘Umar said to him, “May Allah rectify your state, the man is a bedouin, and would have been pleased with much less (than you gifting him a ride on your donkey and your turban)”. AbduLlah radiyaLlah anhu, replied saying, “his father was a beloved (friend) of my father, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, and I heard the Messenger sallaLlahu alayhi wasallam saying, “of the greatest acts of piety, is for the child to maintain good ties with those who are beloved to his father.””
Note, that AbduLlah ibn ‘Umar showed kindness, not to his father, Umar’s friend, but to the son of his father’s friend. In addition, it’s been narrated that the Messenger sallaLlahu alayhi wasallam would on many occasions share gifts with the friends of his late wife Khadija radiyaLlahu ‘anha. He taught us, sallaLlahu alayhi wasallam, that the way one shows kindness to his late parents, is by honoring and maintaining ties with their friends.
In conclusion, maintaining ties and keeping in touch with your mother’s friend is emphasized and of the greatest acts of piety.
May Allah guide us to that which is most pleasing to Him, Amin.
For a further reading on what constitutes maintaining ties and the types of ties, see this.
Wassalam
[Shaykh] Abdurragmaan Khan
Shaykh Abdurragmaan received ijazah ’ammah from various luminaries, including but not restricted to: Habib Umar ibn Hafiz—a personality who affected him greatly and who has changed his relationship with Allah, Maulana Yusuf Karaan—the former Mufti of Cape Town; Habib ‘Ali al-Mashhur—the current Mufti of Tarim; Habib ‘Umar al-Jaylani—the Shafi‘i Mufti of Makkah; Sayyid Ahmad bin Abi Bakr al-Hibshi; Habib Kadhim as-Saqqaf; Shaykh Mahmud Sa’id Mamduh; Maulana Abdul Hafiz al-Makki; Shaykh Ala ad-Din al-Afghani; Maulana Fazlur Rahman al-Azami and Shaykh Yahya al-Gawthani amongst others.
