There is a debt you will never finish repaying. Your parents carried you, stayed up for you, worried over you through whole nights before you were even aware you existed. Islam does not ask you to “pay back” the equivalent — that is impossible. It shows you something else: the door through which you can keep doing them good, every day, whether they are still here or already gone. That door is dua.

Allah placed good treatment of parents (birr al-walidayn) right after His own worship:

“Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him, and that you be good to parents.” (Qur'an 17:23)

And the verse that follows teaches you, directly, what to say for them.

The Qur'anic dua for parents

Right after the command to gentleness, Allah puts the supplication in your mouth:

Notice the subtlety: you don't ask to “repay” them, you ask Allah to grant them His mercy, infinitely greater than anything you could give. And “as they raised me” makes you remember, every time, their tenderness when you were defenceless. It is a valid supplication whether they are living or deceased.

For living parents

While they are still here, you hold a treasure. Ask for them what you would ask for yourself: health, a long life in obedience to Allah, guidance, forgiveness, a good end. Add your own words to “rabbi irhamhuma” for their specific situation. And remember that dua is paired with action: a call, a visit, patience when it is hard. The Prophet ﷺ said three times “may he be humiliated” about the one who finds his parents in old age and does not enter Paradise through them (Muslim 2551).

When one of them is ill, the dua for parents naturally joins the duas for healing, made at the bedside or from afar.

For a deceased parent

When a parent passes, many believe it is all over. It is the opposite. The Prophet ﷺ said:

“When a person dies, their deeds end, except for three: a continuing charity, beneficial knowledge, or a righteous child who prays for them.” (Muslim 1631)

That righteous child who prays is you. Your dua rises to your parent now, today, when they can no longer do anything for themselves. It is the most precious gift you can still give them.

For a mother, say “lahā”, “warḥamhā”, “ʿāfihā”, “waʿfu ʿanhā” (feminine). Beyond the dua, you can give charity in their name, do good deeds for them, honour their relatives and friends: all of it reaches them. If the longing overwhelms you, know that asking forgiveness for them is also a way of carrying your own grief before Allah, in the same spirit as tawba and seeking forgiveness.

What if my parents aren't Muslim?

While they are alive, birr remains full: kindness, respect, help, and dua that Allah guide them and soften their hearts. The Prophet ﷺ asked for guidance for his mother and for people. However, seeking forgiveness (istighfar) for a parent who died outside Islam is not permitted: Allah made this clear (Qur'an 9:113). Respect and kindness, though, never depend on a parent's religion.

The table of supplications

Don't let this dua slip away

The real trap isn't not wanting to pray for your parents. It's thinking of it one day, then losing it in the rush of the week. That is exactly why keeping your duas in one place changes everything: you set aside a “my parents” folder, you drop these supplications into it, and you find them every day without stumbling on “which one was it again.” We go into it in more detail in keeping a dua journal.

In Nida, compose your dua for your parents in your own words, the way of the Prophet ﷺ, keep it in a folder in their name, and make it a daily appointment — a breath of mercy you send toward them, wherever they are.

In practice

Tonight, take thirty seconds. Say “rabbi irhamhuma kama rabbayani saghira.” If your parents are alive, add a specific request for them and, tomorrow, pick up the phone. If they have passed, ask for their forgiveness and mercy, and give a small charity in their name. That debt you will never repay, you can at least honour, one day at a time, through the door the Prophet ﷺ left wide open for you.