Allah listed the things He forbade. Parents-iḥsān was named alongside the prohibition of shirk and the killing of children. The forbidden things include disrespect to parents.

Sūrah al-Anʿām 151-153, sometimes called the Qurʾan's Ten Commandments or al-Waṣăyă al-ʿAshr (the Ten Counsels), constitute one of the most comprehensive ethical legislations in the Qurʾan. Allah, through the Prophet ﷺ, lists ten foundational prohibitions and obligations. Read the opening of the first verse: 'Say: Come, I will recite to you what your Lord has forbidden to you. Do not associate anything with Him; and to parents, excellence; and do not kill your children out of poverty; We provide for you and for them; and do not approach immoralities, whether apparent or hidden; and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right' (6:151). The verse pairs three matters in one continuous breath, separated only by 'wa' (and): tawhīd (no association with Allah), parents-iḥsān, and the prohibition of killing children. The grammatical pairing is structural; Allah did not separate these matters into separate verses; they belong together. Now read what this teaches about family ethics. Parents-iḥsān is named immediately after tawhīd. The prohibition of killing children is named immediately after parents. The three are placed in one continuous flow: God, parents above, children below. The believer's relationship to all three is established in one verse. The pre-Islamic context of the child-killing clause is specific: the Arabs of Jăhiliyyah, faced with poverty or with the cultural shame of having daughters, would sometimes bury female infants alive. Allah's response was unequivocal: do not kill them; We provide for you and for them. The economic argument was rebuked at its root. But the principle extends. The Qurʾanic commitment to children is structural; it is named alongside the commitment to parents and to Allah Himself. Now consider the bilateral structure. The verse establishes that family ethics flows in two directions. Upward, toward parents: iḥsān. Downward, toward children: protection. The believer who fulfills only one direction violates the verse. The dutiful son who is a harsh father; the devoted daughter who is a dismissive mother; the model child of his parents who is a distant parent of his own children: each is in partial violation. Allah commanded both directions in one breath. The modern application is precise. Many Muslims, especially those raised with strong cultural emphasis on parents-iḥsān, become excellent toward their parents and inadequate toward their children. They visit the parents weekly, call them daily, listen to their stories, accommodate their needs; but with their own children, they are absent, harsh, dismissive, or simply too busy. The pattern is widespread. Allah's verse rebuts it. The same Lord who commanded you to be excellent to your parents commanded you to provide for and protect your children. The same divine voice issued both. To fulfill one while neglecting the other is to take Allah's word selectively. The Prophet ﷺ, in his own life, modeled both directions. Toward his uncle Abū Ṭālib and his foster-mother Ḥalīmah, he carried lifelong devotion. Toward his daughters Fāṭimah, Zaynab, Ruqayyah, Umm Kulthūm, his sons Ibrăhīm, Qăsim, his grandchildren Ḥasan and Ḥusayn, he was the most attentive and tender. He played with them, kissed them, carried them in prayer, called them his beloved. The Prophet ﷺ's life is the structural complete-bilateral model. Now audit your own family ethics in both directions. Upward (parents): are you in compliance with the Yaḥyā standard (Day 189), the 'uff prohibition (Day 185), the thirty-month gratitude (Day 187), the forty-year duʿā (Day 188)? Downward (children): are you present? Are you tender? Are you teaching them? Are you praying for them? Are you protecting them from the spiritual dangers of the era? Are you spending time with them in proportion to their need, not in proportion to your convenience? The verse requires both. The cure has three motions. First, audit honestly. Most believers, examined carefully, are stronger in one direction than the other; identify which is weaker. Second, install a daily action in the weaker direction. If you are weak with parents: call one parent daily, even briefly. If you are weak with children: spend uninterrupted time with one child daily, even briefly. Third, pray the comprehensive family-duʿā: Allāhumma aṣliḥ lī fī wălidayya wa-fī dhurriyyatī. O Allah, rectify my relationship with my parents and with my offspring. The verse pairs the two directions; the duʿā pairs them; your life should pair them. Pray today: Allāhumma jʿalnī barran bi-wălidayya, raḥīman bi-dhurriyyatī. O Allah, make me dutiful to my parents and merciful to my offspring. The bilateral family-ethics is Allah's command.