What children should do when there is discord between their parents

Question

Serving one’s parents has been declared fard in the Qur’an and hadith. But between the parents themselves there is such discord that they cannot bear even to see each other’s face. If the sons keep their mother with them, the father becomes angry and immediately goes to live separately, cooking his food with his own hands. The parents have now been separated for about 18 or 20 years. Now, if the mother is pleased, the father becomes displeased, even though both of them are educated.

Answer

One should try to please both. If the father is displeased because they serve their mother and speaks ill of them, they should listen in silence and not answer him back. If the mother locks her Qur’an away in a box, no one should raise any objection to her about it; for recitation at home they should buy another copy of the Qur’an from a shop.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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