Happy Mother's Day...or not

Children are writing cards, purchasing gifts, and calling home as the Arab world celebrates Mother's Day March 21. Mothers can kick back and relax, maybe let their kids do some of the chores for a change.

Origins of Mother's Day
The history of Mother's day is long, but no, it is not the brainchlid of a Hallmark executive. Several theories abound on the origins of this day: It was a Greek spring festival celebration honoring the mother goddess Rhea; a similar festival called Hilaria was dedicated to the Roman goddess Cybele; early Christians celebrated a type of Mother's Day on the fourth Sunday of Lent to honor the Virgin Mary, mother of Christ. In England, this Christian holiday was later expanded to include all mothers and was called "Mothering Sunday."

The more recent history of Mother's Day is attributed to two American women, Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis.

The dark side of Mother's Day
While many children in the Arab world celebrate their mothers on this special day, others are more wary. They perceive it as a foreign holiday, neither Arab nor Islamic, imported from the West. Some believe that it unnecessary to have one day in the year to honor mothers since that duty should be a lifelong sentiment. Others find it irrelevant to the Arab world where families ties are perceived to be stronger than in the West since large families live together for longer periods of time.

The holiday has also been commercialized to the extent that one of its founders, Anna Jarvis, protested against the way it was celebrated, a BBC report said. According to this report, the greetings card industry is worth 1.2 billion Euros in the UK alone. Mother's Day contributes to much of this value.

In Dubai, more than 100 schoolchildren participated in drawing the largest greeting card to celebrate Mother's Day. A classic move in the Dubai tradition to break records for the world's "largest" or "biggest" thisandthat (think world's biggest man-made islands, world's tallest hotels).

In Palestine, women of all ages gathered in Umm Salamuna village in a non-violent protest against the Israeli Wall.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics issued a report on the status of Palestinian women in the West Bank and Gaza on the occasion of Mother's Day. The first sombre statistic is on 32 Palestinian mothers out of 112 females detained in jails.

Status of Mothers in Islam
Regardless of Mother's Day, mothers command great respect in Islam. The Prophet states emphatically that the rights of the mother are paramount. Abu Hurairah reported that a man came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and asked: "O Messenger of Allah, who is the person who has the greatest right on me with regards to kindness and attention?" He replied, "Your mother." "Then who?" He replied, "Your mother." "Then who?" He replied, "Your mother." "Then who?" He replied, "Your father."

Finally, the Holy Qur'an (17:23, 24) says of parents: "Thy Lord hath decreed, that ye worship none save Him, and (that ye show) kindness to parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age with thee, say not "Fie" unto them nor repulse them, but speak unto them a gracious word. And lower unto them the wing of submission through mercy, and say: My Lord! Have mercy on them both as they did care for me when I was little."