Getting One Parent Angry to Make the Other One Happy
Shaykh Ṣāliḥ ibn Fawzān al-Fawzān
Categorized under: The Rights of Parents
Question to Shaikh Ṣāliḥ Al-Fawzān, may Allāh protect him:
My father asked me to do something that would anger my mother; what’s the ruling on getting one parent angry in order to make the other one happy?
Answer:
This isn’t allowed:
فَلَا تَقُلْ لَهُمَا أُفٍّ وَلَا تَنْهَرْهُمَا وَقُلْ لَهُمَا قَوْلًا كَرِيمًا
Let not be uttered by you to [your parents even the slightest expression of distaste like] “uff,” nor let any distasteful action ever come towards them from you, but rather be kind and gentle to them in speech [and action]. (Al-Isrāʾ, 23)
This is what Allāh, far above is He in His perfection, directed towards one’s parents, so it’s not allowed for you to anger—to anger both of them or to anger either of them. And if it were to ever be ordained that something happen from you that gets them angry, then you [must] ask them for forgiveness and be quick about that.
Al-Ijābāt Al-Mukhtaṣarah, Al-Ḥalqah 380.