The Quran

Preface

وَإِن جاهَداكَ عَلىٰ أَن تُشرِكَ بي ما لَيسَ لَكَ بِهِ عِلمٌ فَلا تُطِعهُما ۖ وَصاحِبهُما فِي الدُّنيا مَعروفًا ۖ وَاتَّبِع سَبيلَ مَن أَنابَ إِلَيَّ ۚ ثُمَّ إِلَيَّ مَرجِعُكُم فَأُنَبِّئُكُم بِما كُنتُم تَعمَلونَ

Yusuf Ali

“But if they strive¹ to make thee join in worship with Me things of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not; yet bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration), and follow the way of those who turn to me (in love):² in the end the return of you all is to Me, and I will tell you the truth (and meaning)³ of all that ye did.”

Where the duty to man conflicts with the duty to God, it means that there is something wrong with the human will, and we should obey God rather than man. But even here, it does not mean that we should be arrogant or insolent. To parents and those in authority, we must be kind, considerate, and courteous, even where they command things which we should not do and therefore disobedience becomes our highest duty.
The worship of things other than God is the worship of false things, things which are alien to our true knowledge, things that go against our own pure nature as created by God.
In any apparent conflict of duties our standard should be God’s Will, as declared to us by His command. That is the way of those who love God and their motive in disobedience to parents or human authority where disobedience is necessary by God’s Law, is not self-willed rebellion or defiance, but love of God, which means the true love of man in the highest sense of the word. And the reason we should give is, “Both you and I have to return to God: therefore not only must I follow God’s Will, but you must command nothing against God’s will.”
These conflicts may appear to us strange and puzzling in this life. But in God’s Presence we shall see their real meaning and significance. It may be that that was one way in which our true mettle could be tested: for it is not easy to disobey and love man at the same time.