Calling scholars, teachers and elders “father”

There is nothing
wrong with addressing a scholar or elderly man as father, in the sense that
his status is like that of a father in terms of respect, not in the sense of
blood ties. 

Abu Dawood (8),
an-Nasaa’i (40) and Ibn Maajah (313) narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah
be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: “I am to you like a father; I teach you.”

(Classed as hasan
by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood). 

In the Qur’an, the
word father is used to refer to someone other than a biological father, as
in the verse (interpretation of the meaning):

“They
said, ‘We shall worship your Ilaah (God — Allah) the Ilaah (God) of your
fathers, Ibraaheem (Abraham), Ismaa‘eel (Ishmael), Ishaaq (Isaac), One Ilaah
(God), and to Him we submit (in Islam)”

[al-Baqarah
2:133]. 

Ismaa ‘eel was one
of his (Ya‘qoob’s) paternal uncles, not one of his (fore)fathers. 

In Fataawa Ibn
as-Salaah (1/186) it says: Is it permissible according to the Holy Book
and the saheeh hadeeths to call someone “father” other than the biological
father? 

He (may Allah have
mercy on him) replied: Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning): “They said, ‘We shall worship your Ilaah
(God — Allaah) the Ilaah (God) of your fathers, Ibraaheem (Abraham),
Ismaa‘eel (Ishmael)…” [al-Baqarah 2:133], and Ismaa‘eel was one of his
paternal uncles, not one of his (fore)fathers. 

And Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning): “And he raised his parents [abawayhi] to
the throne” [Yoosuf 11:100], but his mother had died previously. (The
scholars) said that what is meant is his maternal aunt. This is an example
of the word abawayn (parents, lit. two fathers) being used to refer to
someone other than a biological parent, which is a valid usage in Arabic. 

Use of the word in
this manner to refer to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) or a scholar or an old man is acceptable in terms of linguistic usage
and meaning. From the shar‘i point of view, Allah, may He be glorified and
exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “Muhammad
(صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
is not the father of any of your men”
[al-Ahzaab 33:40].
In the saheeh hadeeth, the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him
said): “I am to you like a father; I teach you.” 

Hence some of our
scholars are of the view that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) should not be called the father of the believers, even though his
wives are the mothers of the believers, and the reason given for that is
what we have mentioned. Based on this, it may be said that he is like a
father, but it cannot be said that he is our father. However, other scholars
regarded the latter as permissible too, and the one who stated this view
wrote a lengthy argument to support it. But to be on the safe side and as a
precaution it is better to avoid that. End quote. 

Ash-Shaafa‘i (may
Allah have mercy on him) stated that it is permissible to call him the
father of the believers, i.e., in terms of respect. See al-Durar
al-Bahiyyah Sharh al-Bahjah al-Wardiyyah, 4/91 

Al-Qurtubi (may
Allah have mercy on him) said: The correct view is that it is permissible to
say that he is the father of the believers, i.e., in terms of respect. The
verse (interpretation of the meaning): “Muhammad (صلى
الله عليه وسلم) is not the father of any of your men” [al-Ahzaab
33:40] refers to biological fatherhood. End quote. 

So there is
nothing wrong with calling him (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
“father”, and it does not matter that the Christians use this word too,
because resembling them is only forbidden with regard to matters that are
unique to them, but this word is something common to all people, Arabs and
others, and was also known before the time of the Christians, as Allah says
concerning Ibraaheem (peace be upon him): “it is the religion of your
father Ibraheem (Abraham) (Islamic Monotheism). It is He (Allah) Who has
named you Muslims both before and in this (the Qur’an)” [al-Hajj 22:78 –
interpretation of the meaning]. 

Allah, may He be
exalted, called him the father of the believers. 

Al-Qurtubi (may
Allah have mercy on him) said in his Tafseer (12/91): Ibraaheem is
the father of all the Arabs. It was also suggested that this is addressed to
all the Muslims, even though not all of them are his descendants, because
respect for Ibrahim is required from the Muslims as respect for the father
is required from the son. End quote. 

People still use
this word in their speech; they may call a scholar, teacher or elder
“father”, and one of these people may say to one who is younger than him, “O
my son,” and so on. 

Muslim narrated in
his Saheeh (2151) that Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with
him) said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said to me, “O my son.” 

An-Nawawi (may
Allah have mercy on him) included this hadeeth in a chapter called:
Permissibility of saying to someone other than one’s son, “O my son”; doing
so is mustahabb. 

What is meant by
son in this case is like what is meant by father, and it is no different. It
does not mean biological son; rather what is meant is to show compassion and
mercy, which is an acceptable usage, even if this word is used by
(Christian) priests when speaking to their followers, because it is not
something that is unique to them, as mentioned above. 

Shaykh ‘Abd
ar-Rahmaan al-Barraak (may Allah preserve him) was asked: Nowadays it is
common to use the word father to refer to Muslim religious scholars who are
senior in age, knowledge and status; is it permissible to use this word,
noting that the Christians use the word father to refer to their scholars
who are senior in knowledge and status? 

(He replied:)
There is no report to indicate that the Messenger (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him), the Companions, the Taabi‘een or early generations used
the word father to refer to the scholars. 

If anyone were to
be given the title of father, no one would be more deserving of that than
the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), of whom
our Lord said (interpretation of the meaning): “Muhammad
(صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of Allah and
the last (end) of the Prophets”
[al-Ahzaab 33:40]. 

He replied: 

Praise be to
Allah. We do not know of anyone among the scholars who was given the title
of father; rather in some societies it is customary to describe an old man
as father, whether he is a scholar or otherwise, so this word is used when
addressing him, such as saying “O my father” or “O father”, and when
referring to him. There is nothing to suggest that this is an imitation of
Christian usage, because the Christians use that word as a title for leaders
of their religion. As for your saying that the Messenger (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him), depite his high status and virtue, and despite
of the great rights that he has over his ummah is not a father, based on the
verse in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning): “Muhammad
(صلى
الله عليه وسلم)
is not the father of any of your men”
[al-Ahzaab 33:40],
what is meant by fatherhood here is biological fatherhood. However
fatherhood in the sense of status and respect is established in the case of
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), as it says in some
modes of recitation (interpretation of the meaning):
“The
Prophet is closer to the believers than their ownselves, and his wives are
their (believers’) mothers (as regards respect and marriage) and he is a
father to them”
[al-Ahzaab 33:6].
What is meant by fatherhood and motherhood here is in terms of status,
respect and honour. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
said: “I am to you like a father,” however he is of even higher status than
that, so his rights over his ummah are greater than the rights of parents
and all other people, as he (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:
“No one of you truly believes until I am dearer to him than his son, his
father and all of mankind.”
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (14) and Muslim (44). And Allah knows best. 

To sum up, there
is nothing wrong with addressing a scholar or old man as father, and this is
not regarded as imitating the Christians. 

And Allah knows
best.