1271 – ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ (may Allah be pleased with them) reported that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Among the grave sins is for a man to revile his own parents.” They asked, “Does a man revile his parents?” He replied, “Yes: he abuses another man’s father and that man, in return, abuses his father; he abuses another man’s mother and that man, in return, abuses his mother.” Agreed upon. (1)

Lexical notes
• min al-kabāʾir (among the grave sins): the plural of kabīrah, a heinous act—a major sin forbidden by the Law, such as murder or adultery.
• yasubbu (he reviles): to insult or curse. Al-Taʿrīfāt defines shatm (revilement) as describing someone in terms that diminish or demean him.

Points derived from the hadith
1 – The rights of parents and the obligation to honor and treat them well have already been discussed, as has the fact that one of the greatest of the grave sins is to be undutiful to them. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “Do not even say ‘Uff’ to them, nor repel them” (al-Isrāʾ 17:23). We therefore know that reviling them is among the most heinous violations.
2 – When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) stated, “Reviling one’s parents is among the grave sins,” the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, were surprised and asked, “Can a man actually revile his own parents?” He explained that if someone causes them to be reviled it is as though he had reviled them himself: he insults another man’s father, so that man retaliates by insulting his father; he insults another man’s mother, so that man retaliates by insulting his mother. Even though he did not curse his own parents directly, he is considered to have done so because he set the wheels in motion. The juristic maxim states: “The means take the ruling of their ends.”