Relationships

God guides us throughout the Quran to be the best people we can be and have the best relationships with the people around us. A disclaimer: I don’t claim to have the perfect relationship in any of the categories I’m going to talk about, but God willing, I am striving to be better and may God help us all in this area.

The first worldly relationship that most humans experience after being born is with their parents. 2:83 says: … You shall not worship except GOD. You shall honor your parents….

That sounds easy but wait. God sets the standards extremely high for how we should treat them in:

[17:23] Your Lord has decreed that you shall not worship except Him, and your parents shall be honored. As long as one or both of them live, you shall never say to them, “Uff” (the slightest gesture of annoyance), nor shall you shout at them; you shall treat them amicably.

Honoring your parents can take different forms depending on your physical proximity and the emotional connection you have with them. While having your parents physically and    emotionally close to you has a lot of blessings it also brings with it a lot of tests. Remembering why God set this high standard for us also helps to honor our parents and be the best submitters and be the best examples for our children as well.

[31:14] We enjoined the human being to honor his parents. His mother bore him, and the load got heavier and heavier. It takes two years (of intensive care) until weaning. You shall be appreciative of Me, and of your parents. To Me is the ultimate destiny.

God also reminds us of the precaution to take with parents. He wants us to make sure we draw the line between honoring and worshipping our parents, or following them blindly.

[29:8] We enjoined the human being to honor his parents. But if they try to force you to set up idols beside Me, do not obey them. To Me is your ultimate return, then I will inform you of everything you had done.

[2:170] When they are told, “Follow what God has revealed herein,” they say, “We follow only what we found our parents doing.” What if their parents did not understand, and were not guided?

Often a close second worldly relationship is with our brother or sister or grandparents. I am going to group them as relatives. [2:83] We made a covenant with the Children of Israel: “You shall not worship except GOD. You shall honor your parents and regard the relatives, the orphans, and the poor. …

What does “regard” mean? Oxford dictionary defines regard as: “consider or think of (someone or something) in a specified way.” In this case I believe it means kindly, as we see in 24:22: Those among you who are blessed with resources and wealth shall be charitable towards their relatives, the poor, and those who have immigrated for the sake of GOD. They shall treat them with kindness and tolerance; do you not love to attain GOD’s forgiveness? GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.

As we grow up, we go to school and form close relationships with our peers.

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