CHAPTER 5: THE ELDERLY – PART 1
How the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, treated the elderly
Introduction:
Human beings go through many stages during the journey of life. Man begins life as a weak newborn infant, then he becomes a strong young man and finally he becomes a weak elderly person.
Allah Says (what means): «Allah is the one who created you from weakness, then made after weakness strength, then made after strength weakness and white hair. He creates what He wills, and He is the Knowing, the Competent.» [Quran: 30:54]
Islam is emphasises on caring for people who reach old age and made those who reach this stage entitled to greater care and special treatment. This is because those who reach this stage are described to be weak and require greater attention, and this is why it is considered a critical stage in the life cycle.
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was kind to people in general, however, the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, treated older people in an especially considerate manner. He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, attached special importance to them and cared for them greatly. He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was extremely compassionate and kind with all the people who were weak, like the elderly, women and children.
As seen in numerous Prophetic narrations the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, considered respecting the elderly as a way to show reverence for The Almighty. Prophetic narrations imply every aspect of respect and care for the elderly; health care, psychological care, social care, economic care, providing education, and other forms of care that the international community calls for today. In fact, the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, disavowed those who do not venerate the elderly and considered them removed from Muslim society.
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, considered an elderly person the best of people if his deeds were good:
Abu Bakrah (a Companion) said: “A man said to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam: “Who is the best of people?” He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “The best of people is one whose life is long and his conduct is good.” The man said: “Then who is the worst of people?” To which he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “The worst of people is one whose life is long and his conduct is evil.”(Reported by At-Tirmidhi (2320).)
Al-Mubaarakpoori (a scholar) said: “At-Tayyibi (a scholar) said: ‘Time and the hours that pass are like the trader’s capital, so one must utilise them to trade in what is profitable. The more one increases his capital, the more one’s profit becomes. One who utilises his life in the best manner by performing good deeds will certainly be successful and a winner; while the one who wastes his capital (his life) will certainly not be successful and will acquire a great loss.” (Tuhfat Al-Ahwathi (512/6).)
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “The best amongst you are those who live longer and perform good deeds.”(Reported by Al-Haakim (1255) on the authority of Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullaah.)
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, encouraged people to respect the elderly and honour them:
The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “A sign of glorifying Allah is to honor an aged Muslim, and the person who memorizes the Quran, who is neither negligent nor extravagant with regard to it, and to honor the ruler who is fair.” (Reported by Abu Dawood (4843).)
Al-’Atheem Abaadi (a scholar) said: “The term, “to honor an aged Muslim” means, honoring an old person and showing respect to him in gatherings, being kind to him and things of the sort. The Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, counted this a sign of the person honouring his Lord and glorifying Him. This is because an old person has a special rank with Allah as he has lived longer (than youngsters) as a Muslim. Also, this respect is a way for the community he lives in to demonstrate his rights upon them, because it is a right that was granted to him by Islam.”(‘Awn Al-Ma’bud (132/13).)
The Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, mentioned the one who memorizes the Quran, the aged Muslim, and the just ruler together in this narration. However, he mentioned honoring the aged Muslim before the others. It is as if to say, honor the elderly Muslim just like you would honor a just ruler, and honor the elderly Muslim just like you would honor a person who memorizes the Quran.
Anas (a Companion) narrated: “An old man came wanting to talk to the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. People did not make room for him to sit. Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “He is not one of us who shows no mercy to younger ones and does not acknowledge the honour due to our elders.”(Reported by At-Tirmidhi (1919).)
Another narration reads: “He is not one of us who shows no mercy to younger ones and does not acknowledge the rights due to our elders.”(Reported by Abu Dawood (4943) on the authority of ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr.)
The term: “he is not one of us” means, he is not upon our way (of practising the religion). This is another way to say he is free from such people and disowns them. He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, disowned such people from being upon his way. A Muslim does not disrespect elderly people; the Muslim community does not recognize one who does not honor and glorify aged Muslims as part of their community.
The Companions honoured elderly Muslims:
Ibn Katheer (a scholar) narrated on the authority of Talhah ibn ‘Ubaydullaah (a Companion) saying: “’Umar (a Companion and the second Caliph) went out one night and entered a house. The next morning I went to that house, only to find an old woman who was blind, debilitated and disabled. I asked her: ‘What is the story of the man who comes to you at night?’ She replied: ‘He is a man who has been taking care of me for a long time. He comes to me, takes care of my affairs and takes my trash out. He brings me whatever I need, and then he removes my difficulties‘.”(Al-Bidayah Wan-Nihayah (153/7).)
This is one of the many luminous examples of how the Companions used to treat elderly people and take care of them. This shows the difference between the Muslim community and other communities.
The suffering of aged people in non-Muslim communities and the extent of their neglect and isolation is no secret. Various reports mention that the rights of elders are, that they suffer poverty and negligence, and that many of them live without a steady income, and in some cases, without any income whatsoever.
The number of elderly people in the world will exceed the number of children under the age of five 5 within ten years, placing greater demands on a shrinking number of young caregivers and taxing social insurance programs, according to a report by the U.S. Census Bureau.
The number of people older than 65 will double to 14 percent from 7 percent of the world’s population in the next 30 years, rising to 1.4 billion by 2040, said the report, “An Ageing World: 2008,” commissioned by the U.S. National Institute on Ageing.
The most rapid rise in the elderly population is taking place in developing countries, where the increase in the number of people 65 and older is more than double the rate in developed nations. In the year 2007, 313 million, or 62 percent, of the world’s elderly lived in developing countries, a number that is projected to rise to more than 1 billion, 76 percent of the world’s 65 and over population, the report said.
An older report titled “The State of Elders in the World 2002” that covered 32 countries stated that senior citizens are deprived from medical care and education, and that governments and decision makers ignore them, and so they feel isolated from their communities. One of the respondents in the report said: “When you reach the age of sixty, it is as if you are not human.”
Some hard-hearted people are of the view that communities must get rid of the elders in the community because they are unproductive elements in the community.
What adds to the complication is that the number of aged people in the world is continuously increasing.
Statistics about the ageing population:
• Population statistics indicate that the twentieth century witnessed a large increase in the numbers of elderly people worldwide.
• In the year 1980, their numbers reached 376 million people globally.
• The numbers jumped to 427 million people by the year 1990, with a percentage of 8.8% of the world’s population.
• Likewise, by the year 2000 the numbers increased to reach 590 million people.
• It is expected that the number will increase to 1171 million people by the year 2020 and that 25% of the world’s population would be comprised of elderly people. (Translated from the website)
European communities are witnessing a decrease in the rate of births while the lifespan of the elderly is increasing, which is why these communities are becoming aged communities, where the number of old people is high and the youth are less in number.
When people see how undutiful children are with their parents and how negligent the community is towards elders, they would say to themselves: “Why should we give birth to more children, if this is the treatment we would get from our children? A dog is more loyal to us than them and more beneficial, and thus having a dog is better than having children who would turn out to be undutiful.”
Thus, we see communities attach great importance to their pets such that they love and take care of them in an astonishing way and one can even find hospitals and hotels exclusively for dogs.
On the contrary, elders in the Muslim communities (except in rare cases) get the due honor and respect they are entitled to according to the distinct teachings Islam calls towards and enjoins upon people. They are treated with respect and dutifulness. When an aged person is hospitalised for any reason, you see his children take turns in staying with, serving, and visiting them. In fact, they would hardly leave the place and prefer to
stay around them.
He, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, gave due consideration to their age and weakness and would go to the elderly himself:
When he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, conquered Makkah, he entered the Sacred Mosque of Makkah, so Abu Bakr (a Companion and the first Caliph) came to him accompanied by his father Abu Quhafah (who was a non-Muslim at the time). When the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, saw him (the father), he said: “Why didn’t you leave the old man at home? I should have been the one to go to him.”
Abu Bakr said: “O Messenger of Allah, you are more deserving of having him walk to than you walking to him.”
Then he, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, sat him down in front of him, wiped his chest with his hand and then said to him: “Embrace Islam” so he became Muslim. (Reported by Ahmad (27001).)
This narration highlights many aspects of respect on the part of the Prophet of Allah, sallallahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, to elders, such as expressing his will to go to the old man (though he was not yet a Muslim); he sat him in front of him as a way of honoring him; and then wiped his chest as a way of showing kindness.
By Muhammad Saalih Al-Munajjid
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