How Can I Ease the Guilt of My Parents Funding My Education?
Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad
Question
I’m a 17-year-old girl feeling guilty about my parents funding my university abroad while struggling financially. I plan to get a part-time job to help, but I still feel like a burden. What can I do Islamically to ease this guilt and help my parents?
Answer
Thank you for your question. Islamically, you can be grateful for their help, do your best in your studies, use your education for the good of the Muslim umma, make dua for them, and pay it forward.
Guilt
I would advise you not to beat yourself up over your parent’s spending on your education. They feel a sense of responsibility and obligation toward you, and you will feel that with your children as well one day, in sha Allah. Thank Allah (Most High) for having generous parents like this, and do your absolute best.
Make a sincere intention to please Allah (Most High) with your education and use it as a means for goodness. Be good to your parents to the best of your ability, thank them, and make dua for them. Finally, try to do the same for your kids or someone else’s kids when your turn comes.
Please make this dua for them daily:
رَّبِّ ٱرْحَمْهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرًۭا
“My Lord! Be merciful to them as they raised me when I was young.” [Quran, 17:24]
Part-Time
I don’t necessarily think you need a part-time job because I have seen such jobs detract from a student’s academic success. The extra time spent working can otherwise be used to study, visit teachers during office hours, participate in study groups, or for much-needed rest.
Please see these links as well:
- Goodness to Parents – A Reader
- Will I Be Rewarded for Financially Supporting My Parents?
- Interest, Parents, & Upholding Good Character
May Allah give you the best of this world and the next.
[Ustadha] Shazia Ahmad
Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani
Ustadha Shazia Ahmad lived in Damascus, Syria, for two years, where she studied aqidah, fiqh, tajweed, tafsir, and Arabic. She then attended the University of Texas at Austin and completed her Master’s in Arabic. Afterward, she moved to Amman, Jordan, where she studied fiqh, Arabic, and other sciences. She later moved back to Mississauga, Canada, where she lives with her family.