Should he force his mother to move from the old house that is making her sick?
Question There is a person whose mother is 90 years old and she lives in her house which is very old. It is a house that is full of fleas and mice (which has resulted in her becoming deficient in haemoglobin). He has offered to move her to another house which he will rent for…
Question
Praise be to Allah.
If the
matter is as you have described, and the house is old and the mother is
exposed to sickness because of staying there, then the son should strive to
convince her to move out. If she insists, he cannot force her to move, so
long as she is of sound mind and understands what is being said to her,
because she has the right to stay and live where she wants.
The son must
strive to clean the house as much as he can, and he should supply her with
what she needs of food, drink and other services, whether he does that
himself or he hires someone to serve her. He must strive to honour her and
uphold ties with her and check on her regularly, especially as she is so
old, as Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And your
Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to
your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life,
say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in
terms of honour.
24. And
lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say:
My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was
young.”
[al-Isra’
17:23,24]
And Allaah knows best.
