Gaining the satisfaction of parents is one of the most important duties of children. Below, you will become familiar with several effective prayers for the health of father and mother.
Prayer for the Health of Father and Mother
Mother and father have great rights over their children. Children have the duty to please and satisfy them through their actions. One way to gain the satisfaction of parents, both during their lifetime and after their death, is through prayer and seeking forgiveness from God. Prayers for health and long life are abundant in the narrations of the infallible Imams. Reciting certain chapters of the Qur’an and completing specific supplications for the health and longevity of oneself and one’s parents is very effective.
Prayers for Father and Mother in the Qur’an
“My Lord, forgive me and my parents.” (Nuh 71:28)
“My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up when I was small.” (Isra 17:24)
God says in this verse about parents: Do not only rely on mercy and kindness for them, but ask for His vast mercy and say: O Lord, as they raised me when I was a child, send Your mercy and compassion upon them.
“And We have enjoined upon man kindness to parents. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning [period] is thirty months... When he reaches maturity and reaches forty years, he says, ‘My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to do righteousness of which You approve and make righteous for me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims.’” (Ahqaf 46:15)
“Our Lord, forgive me and my parents and the believers the Day the account is established.” (Ibrahim 14:41)
Prayer of Imam Sajjad (a) for the Health of Father and Mother
The following is a heartfelt prayer from Imam Sajjad (a) for the health of parents:
“O Allah! Reward them for raising me and grant them recompense for honoring me. Preserve for them what they preserved of me during my childhood. O Allah! Whatever harm they suffered from me, or whatever dislike they bore from me, or any right of theirs that I neglected, make it an expiation for their sins, an elevation in their ranks, and an increase in their good deeds. O You who replaces bad deeds with multiplied good ones.”
Also, in Prayer 24 of Sahifa Sajjadiya regarding parents, Imam Sajjad (a) prays:
“O Lord, send blessings upon Muhammad Your servant and Messenger and his pure household, and grant them the best blessings, mercy, and health.
O God, assign my parents dignity with You and send them Your greetings from Your kindness, O Most Merciful of the merciful.
O God, bless Muhammad and his family and relieve me from what is obligatory in my heart regarding my parents. Inspire me and grant me the knowledge to fully observe the rights of my parents, and then grant me the ability to act on what I know so that none of my duties decrease and my body does not tire or become heavy from serving what You have inspired me.”
“O God, bless Muhammad and his family, just as You have honored us by accepting Islam, his religion, and love for his pure household, and bless Muhammad and his family as You have made it obligatory for us to have rights over people because of him.”
“O God, make my fear of the majesty and dignity of my parents like my fear of a king’s majesty, and grant me the ability to behave with them like a kind mother.”
“O God, make obedience to my parents and kindness to them sweeter to me than a sweet sleep and more refreshing to me than quenching my thirst, so that I put their wishes before my own and choose their satisfaction over mine. And even if their kindness and favors to me are few, increase them in my sight, and if my love for them is abundant, reduce it in my eyes.”
“O Lord, help me to soften my voice before them, purify my speech, soften my behavior, and make my heart tender and compassionate toward them. Make me a companion, close friend, and caring toward them.”
“O God, whatever my parents have done in speech or deed that wronged me, or neglected their duties toward me, or violated my rights, I have forgiven all of it and turned it into kindness and love toward them. And I ask You to remove any consequences or troubles from it, for I do not accuse them of wrongdoing toward me nor consider them negligent in kindness to me, O my God.”
“Indeed, I am not upset with them for what they did for my upbringing because their rights over me are more obligatory, their kindness to me is older, and their favor is greater than I could repay justly or reciprocate. And if I were to do so, what would become of all their efforts in raising me? What about all the protection and care they gave me with hardship and distress? What about all the pressure and trouble they endured for my comfort?”
