The Meaning of ‘Umm’ and Importance of Mothers in Islam

The Meaning of ‘Umm’

The Arabic word ‘Umm’ that is used for mother really means the root and the foundation. It is so widely used to mean mother that its other meanings are overshadowed.

The Use of ‘Umm’ in the Qur’an

One of the uses of ‘Umm’ in the Qur’an is to refer to a real mother as in the following verse:

وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى أُمِّ مُوسَى أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ فَأَلْقِيهِ فِي الْيَمِّ وَلَا تَخَافِي وَلَا تَحْزَنِي إِنَّا رَادُّوهُ إِلَيْكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ

“So We sent this inspiration to the mother of Moses: “Suckle (thy child)…” [The Holy Qur’an, al-Qasas 28:7]

The second use of ‘Umm’ in the Qur’an is to refer to its basic meaning of root and foundation as in the following verse:

هُوَ الَّذِيَ أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آيَاتٌ مُّحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَأُخَرُ

“He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: In it are verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book: others are allegorical.”[The Holy Qur’an, Al-i-Imran 3:7]

The third use of the word ‘Umm’ in the Qur’an is to refer to the greatest of several things or the central one as in the following verse:

لِّتُنذِرَ أُمَّ الْقُرَى وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا

“…that thou mayest warn the Mother of Cities1 and all around her…” [The Holy Qur’an, al-Shura 42:7]

Mecca was the central town in Arabia like the capital cities in the world today. Others say that Mecca is called the mother of cities because the Earth started to expand starting from there, and that Mecca is the first spot created and the first piece of dry land on the Earth. The wives of Rasulullah (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم ) are also considered the mothers of the believers in the Qur’an as we read in the following verse:

النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجُهُ أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ

“The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم ) is closer to the Believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers…” [The Holy Qur’an, al-Ahzab 33:6]

Considering the various meanings mentioned above one can better understand the importance of the rights of the mother.

Then the right of your mother is that you should know that she carried you where no one carries anyone, and she fed you with the fruit of her heart – that which no one feeds anyone, and she protected you with her hearing and sight, and her hands and legs, and her hair and skin and all her other organs. She was highly delighted to do so. She was happy and eager, enduring the harm and the pains, and the heaviness and the grief until the Mighty Hand expelled you out of her and delivered you out to the Earth.

She did not care if she went hungry as long as you ate, and if she was not covered as long as you were clothed, and if she was thirsty as long as you drank, and if she was in the sun as long as you were in the shade, and if she was miserable as long as you were happy, and if she was deprived of sleeping as long as you were resting. And her abdomen was your abode, and her lap was your seat, and her breast was your supply of drink, and her soul was your fort. She protected you from the heat and the cold of this world. Then you should thank her for all that. You will not be able to show her gratitude unless through Allah’s help and His granting you success.

Considering the various meanings mentioned above one can better understand the importance of the rights of the mother.

Mothers Suffer Pain

Now that we have reviewed the meanings of the word ‘Umm’ in Arabic we will consider the various important points that Imam Sajjad expressed regarding the rights of the mother. Imam Sajjad starts his discussion with pregnancy and describes how a mother suffers the hardships of the period of pregnancy and the pains of labor.

This is the type of hardship that no one else is ready to suffer for our sake. This point is clearly stressed in the Holy Qur’an in the following verse:

وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ إِحْسَانًا حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ كُرْهًا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًا وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَاثُونَ شَهْرًا حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَى وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِي إِنِّي تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ

“We have enjoined on man kindness to his parents: In pain did his mother bear him, and in pain did she give him birth. The carrying of the (child) to his weaning is (a period of) thirty months. At length, when he reaches the age of full strength and attains forty years, he says, “O my Lord! Grant me that I may be grateful for Thy favor, which Thou has bestowed upon me, and upon both my parents, and that I may work righteousness such as Thou mayest approve; and be gracious to me in my issue. Truly have I turned to Thee and truly do I bow (to Thee) in Islam.”[The Holy Qur’an, al-Ahqaf 46:15]

Moreover, in another verse we read:

وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ وَهْنًا عَلَى وَهْنٍ وَفِصَالُهُ فِي عَامَيْنِ أَنِ اشْكُرْ لِي وَلِوَالِدَيْكَ إِلَيَّ الْمَصِيرُ

“And We have enjoined on man (to be good) to his parents: in travail upon travail did his mother bear him, and in years twain was his weaning: (hear the command), “Show gratitude to Me and to thy parents: to Me is (thy final) Goal.”[The Holy Qur’an, Luqman 31:14]

The period of pregnancy is one of the most difficult times of a mother’s life. She has to put up with many hardships from the time that she gets pregnant. She has to give a lot of her own energy to the fetus that is growing inside her.

The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم ) said:

الجَنَّةُ تَحْتَ أقْدامِ الأُمَّهَاتِ.

“Heaven lies under the feet of mothers.”

Serve the Mother or the Front

A young man went to see the Prophet along with his mother. He wanted to go to the front but his mother would not let him do so. The Prophet said:

عِندَ أُمِّكَ قِرَّ وإنَّ لَكَ مِن الأجْرِ عِندَها مِثلَ ما لَكَ في الجِهادِ.

“Be at the service of your mother since it is not any less of a service than going to the war front.”

A man went to see the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم ) and said: “O Prophet of God (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم )! Whom shall I treat well?” He said: “Your mother.” The man asked: “Who else?” The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم ) said: “Your mother.” The man asked: “Who else?” Again, the Prophet  (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم ) said: “Your mother.” Again, the man asked: “Who else?” This time the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّم ) said: “Your father.”

Thus, we can see that our mothers have a greater right incumbent upon us. We can say that the mother’s share is three times that of the father’s based on the above tradition. Even though the father pays for the expenses of the child, the mother has a greater role in the period of pregnancy, breast-feeding and upbringing of the child. The father just pays for the needs, but it is the mother who is always with the child and never leaves him alone and whole-heartedly attends to him.