Why Do We Throw Our Parents Into Nursing Homes?
It all started with the belief that you deserve to be celebrated on your birthday.
My friend was shocked when he learned that I don't celebrate my birthday. I told him that I don't even celebrate the Prophet Muhammad's birthday. So why should I care about my own?!
"You Muslims don't like to have fun!" he said.
"Do you deserve to have fun?" I asked
"Excuse me? It's the day I was born!", he said.
"Yes. But what did you do on your birthday to deserve an annual celebration?
Were you the one who suffered during pregnancy and delivery?
Who carried you in her womb for nine months and nourished you with the sap of her life?
Who bored all that pain in order to have you?
It's your mother."
And because of that, Islam prioritizes a mother over a father in the issue of being kind to them. When the Prophet Muhammed was asked: "Who is the most deserving of my good treatment?", The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man asked, "Then who?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man asked again, "Then who?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man asked again, "Then who?" The Prophet said, "Your father."
"Did the kids eat yet?". My father always used to ask this question as soon as he returns from work.
Our parents did not care if they themselves went hungry, while we were fed to satiety, or to go thirsty themselves, while our thirst was quenched. And when we were sick, they ignored their sweet sleep and tolerated the pain of sleeplessness for our sake.
In today's "modern" world, we tend to forget about all this. Worse than that, we ship our parents off when they start interfering with our Netflix-watching schedule! We throw them into nursing homes like trash, to die alone in negligence.
And how is the situation in nursing homes?
Consider this report by the Canadian Armed Forces. The report reveals horrific "long-known truths" about nursing homes in Canada, long before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic:
Cockroach and bug infestations
seniors calling out repeatedly for help but no answer
rotting food
COVID-19-infected patients put in the same room with those who are healthy,
missed meals
seniors left in soiled diapers and linens
And assuming the life of seniors in a nursing home is acceptable and pleasant, there are other emotions and desires in older people that the social environment of a nursing home cannot satisfy. The particular caresses which create joy and exhilaration in a parent can be provided only by their sons and daughters, not in a nursing home.
Unfortunately, the United Nation's definition of women's rights is limited to "violence against women for sexual reasons." But what about those women who their children mistreat?!
The liberal media has distorted the importance and value of motherhood. And unfortunately, this disease started to spread to Muslim societies.
Muslim children "must" have their old parents living with them. Under the Islamic rules only, parents would be respected and cared for, surrounded by the love and help of their family and the laughter of their grandchildren. Islamic ethos guides people towards this:
And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as], “uff,” and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word.
And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, “My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small.” — َQuran (17:23–24)
