Children's Rights: To Have a Righteous Mother

The following post has been excerpted from the book, Raising Children in Light of the Qur'aan and Sunnah by 'Abdus-Salaam bin 'Abdillah As-Sulaymaan. 

If someone wishes to produce ripe fruits, he will indeed search for the land that is the most fertile. One of the great aspects of wisdom behind getting married is to produce righteous offspring that will worship Allah and serve as a provision for their parents. The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said: "Marry women that are loving and fertile for indeed I will outnumber the nations through you."--Abu Dawood, An-Nasaa'ee, authenticated by Ibn Hibban

Furthermore, the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, clarified the people's standards when seeking a partner for marriage, saying: "A woman is married for four (reasons): Her wealth, her lineage, her beauty, and her religion. So choose the woman with (good) religious qualities, may your hands be covered in dust." --Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, An-Nasaa'ee, and Ahmad

...He, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, praised a woman with good religious qualities, saying: "Shall I not inform you of the best treasure a man gathers-- A righteous wife."--Al-Haakim. 

And he said: "Choose for your seeds (a good mother), for indeed breeding is a strategy." --Ibn Maajah.

This is from the rights that a child has over his father-- that he picks a good mother for him. 

A man once came to 'Umar bin Al-Khattaab, radiAllahu anhu, complaining about his son being undutiful to him. He had brought his son with him and began blaming him for his disobedience, so the son asked, "Doesn't a son have a right over his father also?" 'Umar said: "Of course." The son said, "Then what is it?" 'Umar replied, "That his father carefully chooses a mother for him, that he gives him a good name and that he teaches him the Qur'an." At this, the son said, "My father has not done any of these things. As for my mother, she was a black slave woman that used to belong to a Zoroastrian (Majoos). He named me Ju'al and did not teach me even one letter from the Qur'an." 'Umar turned to the man and said, "You came to me to complain about your son being undutiful to you, however, it is you who were undutiful to him before that!" 

Abul-Aswad Ad-Du'alee once told his children, "I was good to you when you were children, when you grew up, and also before you were born." They asked, "And how is it that you were good to us before we were born?" He said, " I chose for you a mother through whom you would not be mistreated." 

Ar-Riyaashee would recite this same theme in the following poetic verses: "The first good thing I did for you was my choosing (for you) an honorable woman of noble descent and clear virtue."