The hadith about honouring parents (birr al-walidayn), each in Arabic with a plain English rendering, the narrator, the collection and number, and the grading. It includes the mother hadith, parents who are not Muslim, and what you can do for them after they die.
أُمُّكَ ... أُمُّكَ ... أُمُّكَ ... ثُمَّ أَبُوكَ
(A man asked: O Messenger of Allah, who most deserves my good company? He said:) Your mother. (Then who?) Your mother. (Then who?) Your mother. (Then who?) Then your father.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sahih al-Bukhari 5971; Sahih Muslim 2548 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
هَلْ لَكَ مِنْ أُمٍّ ... فَالْزَمْهَا فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ تَحْتَ رِجْلَيْهَا
(Jahimah came to the Prophet ﷺ wanting to go out to fight. He asked:) Do you have a mother? (He said: Yes. He said:) Then stay with her, for Paradise is beneath her feet.
Narrated by Mu'awiyah ibn Jahimah · Sunan an-Nasa'i 3104 · Graded hasan sahih by al-Albani
الصَّلاَةُ عَلَى وَقْتِهَا ... ثُمَّ بِرُّ الْوَالِدَيْنِ ... الْجِهَادُ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ
(I asked which deed is most beloved to Allah. He said:) The prayer at its time. (Then what?) Then being good to parents. (Then what?) Striving in the path of Allah.
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud · Sahih al-Bukhari 5970; Sahih Muslim 85 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
رِضَا الرَّبِّ فِي رِضَا الْوَالِدِ وَسَخَطُ الرَّبِّ فِي سَخَطِ الْوَالِدِ
The pleasure of the Lord is in the pleasure of the parent, and the anger of the Lord is in the anger of the parent.
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr · Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1899 · Graded sahih by al-Albani
الْوَالِدُ أَوْسَطُ أَبْوَابِ الْجَنَّةِ فَإِنْ شِئْتَ فَأَضِعْ ذَلِكَ الْبَابَ أَوِ احْفَظْهُ
A parent is the middle gate of Paradise. So if you wish, lose that gate, or keep it.
Narrated by Abu ad-Darda · Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1900; Sunan Ibn Majah 2089 · Graded sahih by al-Albani
رَغِمَ أَنْفُ ثُمَّ رَغِمَ أَنْفُ ثُمَّ رَغِمَ أَنْفُ ... مَنْ أَدْرَكَ أَبَوَيْهِ عِنْدَ الْكِبَرِ أَحَدَهُمَا أَوْ كِلَيْهِمَا فَلَمْ يَدْخُلِ الْجَنَّةَ
May his nose be rubbed in dust, then may his nose be rubbed in dust, then may his nose be rubbed in dust! (They asked: Who, O Messenger of Allah? He said:) The one who finds his parents in old age, one or both of them, and does not enter Paradise.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sahih Muslim 2551 · Sahih
أَحَىٌّ وَالِدَاكَ ... فَفِيهِمَا فَجَاهِدْ
(A man came asking permission to go out to fight. He asked:) Are your parents alive? (He said: Yes. He said:) Then strive in serving them.
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr · Sahih al-Bukhari 3004; Sahih Muslim 2549 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
إِنَّ مِنْ أَكْبَرِ الْكَبَائِرِ أَنْ يَلْعَنَ الرَّجُلُ وَالِدَيْهِ ... يَسُبُّ الرَّجُلُ أَبَا الرَّجُلِ، فَيَسُبُّ أَبَاهُ، وَيَسُبُّ أَمَّهُ
Among the greatest of the major sins is a man cursing his own parents. (They asked: How can a man curse his own parents? He said:) He insults another man's father, so that man insults his father, and he insults his mother.
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr · Sahih al-Bukhari 5973; Sahih Muslim 90 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
نَعَمْ صِلِي أُمَّكِ
(My mother came to me while she was still a polytheist, hoping for my kindness. I asked the Prophet ﷺ whether I should keep ties with her. He said:) Yes, keep ties with your mother.
Narrated by Asma bint Abi Bakr · Sahih al-Bukhari 2620; Sahih Muslim 1003 · Sahih (agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
إِنَّ أَبَرَّ الْبِرِّ صِلَةُ الْوَلَدِ أَهْلَ وُدِّ أَبِيهِ
The finest kind of goodness is for a child to keep up the ties with the people his father loved.
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar · Sahih Muslim 2552 · Sahih
ثَلاَثُ دَعَوَاتٍ مُسْتَجَابَاتٌ لاَ شَكَّ فِيهِنَّ دَعْوَةُ الْمَظْلُومِ وَدَعْوَةُ الْمُسَافِرِ وَدَعْوَةُ الْوَالِدِ عَلَى وَلَدِهِ
Three duas are answered without doubt: the dua of the one who is wronged, the dua of the traveller, and the dua of a parent for his child.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1905 · Graded hasan by al-Albani
إِذَا مَاتَ الإِنْسَانُ انْقَطَعَ عَنْهُ عَمَلُهُ إِلاَّ مِنْ ثَلاَثَةٍ إِلاَّ مِنْ صَدَقَةٍ جَارِيَةٍ أَوْ عِلْمٍ يُنْتَفَعُ بِهِ أَوْ وَلَدٍ صَالِحٍ يَدْعُو لَهُ
When a person dies, his deeds come to an end except for three: ongoing charity, knowledge that people benefit from, or a righteous child who prays for him.
Narrated by Abu Hurayrah · Sahih Muslim 1631 · Sahih
إِنَّ أُمِّي تُوُفِّيَتْ وَأَنَا غَائِبٌ عَنْهَا، أَيَنْفَعُهَا شَىْءٌ إِنْ تَصَدَّقْتُ بِهِ عَنْهَا قَالَ نَعَمْ
(Sa'd ibn Ubadah's mother died while he was away. He said:) O Messenger of Allah, my mother died while I was away from her. Will it benefit her if I give charity on her behalf? (He said:) Yes.
Sa'd then gave his orchard as charity for her.
Narrated by Abdullah ibn Abbas · Sahih al-Bukhari 2756 · Sahih
These are often posted as hadith, but the hadith critics did not accept them as the Prophet's ﷺ words, or they are not found in the hadith books at all. Do not pass them on as hadith.
"Paradise lies under the feet of mothers (al-jannatu tahta aqdam al-ummahat)."
Where: Al-Quda'i, Musnad ash-Shihab, and al-Khatib. Grade: very weak in this wording; some critics called it fabricated. The same meaning is sound in Sunan an-Nasa'i 3104 above: "stay with her, for Paradise is beneath her feet".
نَعَمِ الصَّلاَةُ عَلَيْهِمَا وَالاِسْتِغْفَارُ لَهُمَا وَإِنْفَاذُ عَهْدِهِمَا مِنْ بَعْدِهِمَا وَصِلَةُ الرَّحِمِ الَّتِي لاَ تُوصَلُ إِلاَّ بِهِمَا وَإِكْرَامُ صَدِيقِهِمَا
"(Is there anything left of honouring my parents after their death?) Yes: praying for them, asking forgiveness for them, carrying out their promises after them, keeping the family ties that only exist through them, and honouring their friends."
Where: Sunan Abi Dawud 5142. Grade: graded weak (da'if) by al-Albani; some others graded it hasan. Each of these deeds is supported by other evidence, such as the hadith of the righteous child and of the father's friends above.
"Whoever looks at his parents with mercy gets the reward of an accepted Hajj for each look."
Where: Al-Bayhaqi, Shu'ab al-Iman. Grade: fabricated, according to the hadith critics.
Arabic: the standard wording from the fawazahmed0 hadith-api dataset of the six books and the Muwatta, cut to the Prophet's ﷺ words. English: our own plain rendering. Words in brackets are the setting, not the hadith. Muslim numbers follow Abd al-Baqi, as on sunnah.com. Pending review by the scholars on our team.
Guide
Short answer: the best known hadith about parents is the man who asked who most deserves his good company, and the Prophet ﷺ said "your mother" three times, then "your father" (Sahih al-Bukhari 5971, Sahih Muslim 2548). He also said "stay with her, for Paradise is beneath her feet" (Sunan an-Nasa'i 3104), "the pleasure of the Lord is in the pleasure of the parent" (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1899), and named being good to parents as the deed Allah loves most after the prayer on time (Sahih al-Bukhari 5970).
The scholars explain that the mother carries the child, gives birth and nurses, three hardships the father does not share, as the Quran says in 31:14 and 46:15. So she has three shares of good company and the father one. That is about kindness and care. It does not cancel the father's right to respect and obedience in what is good.
The rulings on this page are pending review by the scholars on our team.
For the mother's rights in detail, read mothers in Islam. For verses, see Quran verses about parents, and for duas, including rabbirhamhuma, dua for parents.
salah (prayer), charity (sadaqah), seeking knowledge, lying and truthfulness, tahajjud (the night prayer), kindness and mercy, patience (sabr), cleanliness and purity, intention (niyyah), marriage (nikah), neighbours. Or see all hadith topics.
Questions
A man asked who most deserves his good company. The Prophet ﷺ said: your mother, then your mother, then your mother, then your father (Sahih al-Bukhari 5971, Sahih Muslim 2548).
That exact wording is very weak. But the meaning is authentic: Sunan an-Nasa'i 3104 says "stay with her, for Paradise is beneath her feet", graded hasan sahih by al-Albani.
You must stay kind and keep ties with them (Sahih al-Bukhari 2620), but no one is obeyed in disobeying Allah (Quran 31:15).
Make dua for them, give charity on their behalf (Sahih al-Bukhari 2756), and keep up the ties with the people they loved (Sahih Muslim 2552). A righteous child's dua is one of the three things that continue after death (Sahih Muslim 1631).
"A parent is the middle gate of Paradise, so lose it or keep it" (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 1900, Sunan Ibn Majah 2089, graded sahih by al-Albani).