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Fatwa CenterFather Forces Him to Wear Pants below Ankles: Not Obligatory to Obey Him
Question
Father has different opinions than me and he forces me to wear pants below ankles and makes me repeat after an electronic adhan and recite intention out loud and he gets mad at me for other things. Should I follow his opinions? Or keep my own? (Also why was I not answered last time, I was told that my question was too long, but it was under 2a000 characters. I was really saddened by this because it was an urgent question)
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad 
is His slave and Messenger.
We have previously underlined that obedience to one’s parents is obligatory in matters that involve benefit to them or which they need for a valid purpose but do not incur harm on the child. As for matters that lack a valid purpose, the child is not obliged to obey the parents concerning them. Scholars stated some guidelines on when obedience to one’s parents is obligatory; they can be summed up in the following three:
First: that what they command their child to do does not constitute disobedience to Allah, The Exalted, as evidenced by the saying of the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam: “There should be no obedience to a created being in what constitutes disobedience to the Creator.” [Ahmad and others, As-Suyooti: authentic]
Second: the parents must have a valid purpose for their command for the child to leave out recommended and permissible acts or to perform disliked ones.
Third: there must be no harm incurred on the child in what the parents command him to do, and this was stated by a group of scholars.
Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah 
said in Al-Fataawa Al-Kubra: “One is required to obey his parents in what does not constitute a sin even if they are disobedient (to Allah). This is the apparent indication of (Imam) Ahmad’s opinion wherein he mentioned no restrictions or conditions. This applies to all that which involves benefit to them without causing harm to the child. If it is hard for him to obey their command but no consequent harm is incurred on him, it is obligatory on him to obey them; otherwise, it is not.” [End of quote]
The well-versed scholar Ibn Hajar Al-Haytami said in Al-Fataawa Al-Fiqhiyyah Al-Kubra: “If the father’s command or prohibition is merely based on foolishness (i.e. for no valid purpose), it must not be taken into account, acting upon the scholarly opinion regarding a father who commands his son to divorce his wife (for no valid reason). The same applies to a father preventing his child from adhering to asceticism. If it is done merely out of fatherly compassion, then it is foolishness and stupidity on his part, and the child must not take his command into consideration. If a father commands his child to do what is permissible and it does not constitute hardship for him, it is incumbent on him to obey his father’s command if he (the father) would be significantly harmed were the child to refrain from complying with his command. It is also incumbent upon the child to obey his father in everything that is not decisively and collectively considered by every reasonable person to be nothing but foolishness and poor reasoning on the father’s part.” [End of quote]
Accordingly, if your father’s command to you to wear your pants below the ankles (i.e. practice Isbaal) was not issued for a valid purpose and was merely based on personal preferences, you are not obliged to obey him in this regard. Your obedience to the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, should be given priority.
On the other hand, you are not obligated to obey him in reciting the intention out loud, firstly because it is an act of Bid‘ah (religious innovation), and secondly because there is no apparent valid purpose for his command in this regard. Playing a recorded version of the Athaan (call to prayer) does not waive the obligation to raise the Athaan, and it is not a substitute for the direct voice of the Mu’aththin. However, there is no Sharee‘ah impediment to repeating the Athaan words after the recorded Athaan, as it is a form of Thikr (remembrance of Allah). If your father commands you to do so, then you should obey him in this regard.
For more benefit on the limits of obedience to parents, please refer to Fataawa 271255, 131695, and 123554.
Allah Knows best.
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