THE PRACTICE OF SUNNAH AND THE "MILK" ALLEGATION

By

Ibn Abdillah As-sudaisiy Al-Iloori

Rajab, 1438 AH/April, 2017

The attack against the sunnah in our society are manifested in different ways. One of such cases is the fact that a child cannot see a good milk and buy same for his or her own parents out of "Birr ul Waalidain" (doing good to parents). For instance, even if a child knows his parents love 'peak milk' very well, he dare not buy it for them because it could be given a negative meaning based on what some haters of the sunnah have succeeded in creating in the minds of many Muslim parents regarding those who strive to practise Islam according to the Sunnah. One of the best things that Muslims in this part of the world appreciate as pre Ramadan gift is milk. Even if it is just only one tin, they appreciate it because it aids the trip of palp and fura through the throat. But a child who has just started practising Sunnah must be careful not to buy milk in particular for his parents so that it would not be used against him or her. He or she can buy any other valuable things for them, but not just milk until he is sure they have considerable understanding of the Sunnah. 

There is an idea being propagated by which people who embrace the Sunnah are accused of taking milk to their parents (especially the mother). According to those who carry this information about, the milk is meant to serve as the milk they took from them when they were small. SubhanaLlah! People carry this matter about and a lot of parents have used it to prevent many of their children from embracing the sunnah. While I do not dispute the fact that this had ever happened, I find it hard to believe that it did happen. I only hear it, I have never seen a real case. In case you have a real case at hand, let us know. In sha Allah, we would conduct proper investigation regarding it and report back. It would be interesting to see the person who did it. We need to ask such a person where he or she got the principle from. The person would be asked the verse of the Qur'an he or she relied on, the hadith in support and scholars who gave him or her that fatwa. The investigation of this matter is necessary in order to clear. It also in consonance with what Allah says in Suratul Hujraat:

(يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَنْ تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ)

O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful. [Q49:6]

This aayah commands us to investigate issues before acting upon them. Like I mentioned earlier, the allegation of milk presentation to parents is very cloudy, yet many parents and guardians have used it against their children and wards respectively. A Muslim should not act on hearsay or unverified reports. A lot of people have regretted several of their actions taken based on unverified reports. Anyone who act on unverified information is likely to regret, if not in this life, definitely in the hereafter. If we are able to find people who were invloved in the milk presentation allegation, we would be able to correct the evil if it is actually true. And perhaps, the cases that had been adversely reported were those of people who innocently bought milk for their parents without deeming it to be substitute of the milk they took during childhood. Allah knows best. But the bottom line is that no reasonable human being would do that to his own parents, talkmore of someone who ascribes to the Sunnah. Even if it happened, it is clear that it is not from the Sunnah to do that to one's parents. And anyone who does it cannot claim to be from the people of the Sunnah. 

By Allah, after taoheed, there is nothing more precious to the people of Sunnah than doing of good to parents which includes spending on them no matter how small. The love of Allah is first, the love of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم is next, then the love and pleasure of the parents. This is what is established in the Deen with texts of the Qur'an and hadith. In fact, in a hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, reported by Imam al Bukhari in his Adab al Mufrad, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم even priotized goodness to parents over jihad. But unfortunately, our society has built and solidified respecting and honouring of parents and elders upon bowing, kneeling or prostrating, which is not permissible in the Deen. The right of Allah and His Deen is supreme over every ther rights. We should try to understand the fact that bowing to greet does not signify honour or respect as far as Islam is concerned. There are many ways of showing respect to parents and elders as far as Islam is concerned. I had written earlier on this. We should try to understand this concept in line with Qur'an and Sunnah, so that we don't go about accusing people wrongly or preventing them from doing what is appropriate in the Deen.

May Allah guide us aright.