"As Mother’s Day approaches this year (for many countries it has already come and gone), many children make beautiful cards for their mothers and prepare elaborate breakfasts or surprises to show their appreciation and love for them. Older children will send flowers or gifts and convey the glad tidings to their mothers. As Muslim mothers, we often bask in this glory and feel quite entitled to this adulation. This is of course because the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) has declared that Jannah lies beneath the mother’s feet [Sunan al-Nasa’i #3104]; and in one hadith the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) repeats three times that a mother is the most deserved of being treated with respect and honour by her children [Sahih al-Bukhari #5626]. In another hadith, the Holy Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) repeated it four times [Ibn al-Sari, al-Zuhd #965]. The Qur’an [31:14] too emphatically enjoins people to be good to their parents, and then singles out a mother specifically because of the pain she endured to give birth to her children and the years spent in rearing them. Although there can be no doubt in the fact that mothers should be revered and honoured for the sacrifices they make for the sake of their children, on Mother’s Day this year, we as mothers should also indulge in some introspection and self-examination. Are we actually deserved of such praise and gratitude? Have we truly done our best to raise our children to be pious and God-fearing individuals, imbued with the love of Allah and His Beloved Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him) in their hearts? Have we raised our children to be humble servants of their Creator and endowed them with the knowledge of the Prophet’s Sunna, so that they care about the rights and duties they owe to their family, friends, neighbors, and society at large? Have we raised our children so they are not insular and selfish and just concerned about their own lives and future, but understand that they will be accountable on the Day of Resurrection for their contribution to their local and wider communities? This is not to say that we, as children, should question our parents, for loving and honouring them is a divine command irrespective of their success or failures. But as mothers and future mothers we need to question ourselves and wonder, are we truly doing justice to our children’s upbringing? On the Day of Judgment, will we able to face the Master of all Creation, secure in the knowledge that as mothers we did lead our children to the doors of Paradise?"