Aging is one of the stages of life and older people make up a part of the community.
However, how should the elderly be treated? Should we respect them or behave them like expired things?
Islam has paid special attention to the elderly.
Imam Sajjad (the fourth Imam) in “Treatise-on-Rights” said:
“The right of him who is older than you is that you should respect him because of his age, and honor his submission to God since he has precedence (over you) in Islam.”
As you see, Islam orders to respect elderly persons because they have to retire and stay home due to their old age and weakness. And this issue has caused them to suffer spiritual malaise.
Dr. Adolph who is a member of the American College of Surgeons stated: “When I was working in the hospital, we treated a seventy-year old lady for a broken hip bone. While I was reviewing her x-rays, I noticed that she was healing rapidly. She had improved a lot, and could walk using some canes instead of a wheel-chair. Her daughter came to the hospital to visit her and told her that her husband said that they could not take her back home anymore, and they might to take her to the home for the elderly. A few hours later, I was called in to check on her. She was in a very bad state and died in less than twenty-four hours. She had recuperated from a difficult surgery on her broken hip, but could not withstand her heart being broken. Her broken heart could no longer be treated! (Guftar-i-Falsafi v.2, p.342)
That’s why Imam Sadiq said: “Part of reverence to God, the Exalted, the High, is to show reverence to an old man.” (Usul al-Kafi, v.2, p.658)
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