his parents, whose rights Allah has coupled with His own, saying:

“Be grateful to Me and to your parents.”

He, the Exalted, also says:

“Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him and that you be kind to parents. If one or both of them reach old age in your care, do not say to them even a word of irritation, nor rebuke them.”

What, then, of insulting them?

He was also asked—may Allah Most High have mercy on him:

Concerning a senior military commander known for goodness and religious devotion: one of the collectors of unlawful levies made false accusations against him, going so far as to beat him, suspend him, parade him on a donkey, and then imprison him. Must the ruler have the man who wronged him beaten?

He replied:

The person who falsely accused him and wronged him in this manner must, by agreement of the Muslims, receive a punishment that deters him and others like him from such conduct. Indeed, the majority of the early generations affirm retaliation in kind in such cases: whoever unjustly beats and wounds another is to be treated as he treated his victim.

As ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb said:

“O people, I did not send my officials to you to beat you or take your wealth, but to teach you the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of your Prophet, and to distribute your public revenues among you. Whenever I learn that someone has been beaten unjustly by his official, I will grant him retaliation.”

ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs challenged him on this, whereupon he said to them:

“The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) exacted retaliation from those who wronged him.”