Pars Today

Pars Today- Imam Sajjad (Peace upon him), the fourth Imam of Shia Muslims, says, "Respect an elderly for his age. Treat him calmly and serenely and deem high status for him."

In the ethical school of Islam, in addition to other values and criteria for veneration and respect, old age and being elderly is among the standards and important examples of preservation of human magnanimity.

The ever-increasing number of the elderly in the world has caused oldness and the way of interaction with the elderly to turn into one of the important issues of human communities. Thus, the need to review religious teachings on the manner of conduct and interaction with these social assets is felt more than ever.

Western culture with respect to the elderly

The scale of importance of respect to the elderly in the Western communities is notably distant from that of the rich Islamic culture. The existence of a lot of old age homes in the West indicates that the status of old people is very shaky and low in these communities. Unfortunately, with the emergence of broad communications in the modern era and interaction of various cultures with each other, this view has appeared in the Islamic communities, too, and the number of old age homes has increased in them. This is while, according to the highly emphatic recommendations in the Islamic culture, children are duty-bound to handle completely the affairs of their parents.

Status of elderly in the narrations of the Prophet and the Ahl al-Bayt

The Prophet of Islam and his Ahl al-Bayt (Infallible progeny) consider the support for the elderly as a divine, religious and ethical value and deem the elderly as respectable.

In their view, observing of good conducts with the elderly enhances their spiritual and psychological health which will ultimately enhance their self-esteem. Imam Sajjad (Peace upon him), the fourth Imam of Shia Muslims, says, "Respect an elderly for his age. Treat him calmly and serenely and deem high status for him."

In view of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace upon them), being aged in human beings will attract more divine mercy. Imam Sadeq (Peace upon him), the sixth Imam of Shia Muslims, says in this regard, "When a faithful reaches the age of 50, God will reckon easily for him and when he reaches the age of 60, God will help him repent. Once he reaches the age of 70, God and the inhabitants of heavens will love him and when he reaches the age of 80, God commands his righteous deeds to be registered and his evil deeds to be omitted. And when he reaches the age of 90, God forgives his sins of the past and the future."

Prophet Mohammad (Blessings of God upon him and his progeny) says in another narration, "Glorify the elderly as glorification of the elderly is tantamount to glorification of God; and whoever does not glorify them is not from us."

Imam Sadeq (Peace upon him), in a similar narration, points to veneration and respect of the elderly, saying, "Veneration of a white-bearded faithful is veneration of God and whoever venerates a faithful, has indeed venerated God; and whoever humiliates a white-bearded faithful, God will send someone to him to humiliate him before he dies."

Greeting the elderly in advance

Imam Sadeq (Peace upon him) says, "The young should greet the elder one." He also says that another example of veneration of an old person is to avoid speaking before him. He says, "Once two men, a young one and an old one, came to the Prophet and the young man started speaking before the old man. The Prophet said, 'First the older one.'"

Observing of the condition of the elderly in prayer

The Prophet of Islam says, "Whenever one of you is leading the congregational prayer, he should shorten the prayer because there are children, elderly, disabled and sick among them [those who are standing behind him]."

Refraining from going ahead of the elderly

Once some water was brought for the Prophet. He said, "Start with the elderly."

Source: Badiezadegan, Elaheh Sadat, 2023, status of the elderly in the Qur'an and the practice of the Ahl al-Byt (Peace upon them), IQNA News Agency

RM/MG

Key phrases: old age period, old age, narrations on good tempers, veneration of man, who is Shia, beliefs of Shias