During the era of the khilaafah of Sayyiduna ‘Uthmaan bin ‘Affaan (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), the value of a single date palm had reached one thousand dirhams (silver coins).
Despite the value of the date palm, Sayyiduna Usaamah bin Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhuma) went to one of his date palms, pierced the trunk and hollowed it out by extracting the ‘heart of palm’ (a vegetable harvested from the inner core and growing bud of certain palm trees. Extracting this results in the entire tree being destroyed.). Sayyiduna Usaamah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) then gave the heart of palm to his mother to relish and enjoy.
Observing that Sayyiduna Usaamah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) had destroyed the tree, the people asked him, “Why did you do this when you are aware that the value of a date palm has reached one thousand dirhams?” Sayyiduna Usaamah (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) replied, “My mother requested me for this, and my mother will not ask me for anything, which I am able to acquire, except that I will (obtain it and) give it to her.”
(Al-Mu’jamul Kabeer – Tabraani #370)
Lesson:
Islam teaches us that after Allah Ta‘ala and Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), it is our parents who have the greatest rights over us. Hence, a Muslim will do his utmost to bring happiness to the hearts of his parents and see to their comfort and wellbeing. Thus, in the incident above, Sayyiduna Usaamah bin Zaid (radhiyallahu ‘anhuma) was even prepared to sacrifice his valuable date tree in order to fulfil the wish of his mother and bring happiness to her heart. On the contrary, in today’s times, parents have been ignored, neglected and even dumped and abandoned in old age homes, so that they do not become a ‘hindrance’ and obstacle to our comfort and lifestyle.