I remember my Islamic Studies teacher Muhammad Ismail telling us children that the Prophet advised one companion to be kind and dutiful to his mother saying: “Be dutiful to your mother, as Paradise is at her foot.”, meaning be dutiful to her, obey her, and serve her and take care of her because being kind and dutiful to the parents and pleasing them is a reason of being admitted to Paradise.

Knowing that my father had married several wives and that there were other relations as well, I raised my hand and asked my teacher, ‘Does it refer to only my own mother or also to other mothers too?’ He was little perturbed by my question but then said, ‘all of them’.