The parent-child relationship is the pillar of family life and the basic building block of civilization.

Islam teaches us to cultivate positive, healthy, and functional relations between parents and their children. Part of this imperative is to balance the rights and duties of both parents and children.

Children have the duty to support their parents and obey all of their reasonable requests, while parents need to give their children room to grow and to develop their unique personalities.

Righteousness to parents (birr al-walidayn) is a core concept in Islamic ethics. In many verses and traditions, good conduct towards one’s parents is mentioned right alongside the worship of Allah.

However, like most rules in Islam, there are exceptions to the general command of obedience. In every circumstance, it is not permissible to obey one’s parents if they command us to do something sinful.