(We have enjoined on man kindness to parents…) [29:8].
The commentators of the Qur’an said: “This was revealed about Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas. When the latter embraced Islam, his mother Hamnah said to him: ‘O Sa‘d, I heard that you have renounced your old religion. By Allah, I will not take shelter under any roof to protect me from the sun and wind, nor will I eat or drink, until you disbelieve in Muhammad and revert to your old religion’. Sa‘d was the dearest of her sons to her, but he refused to do as she wanted. For three days, his mother did not eat, drink or take shelter under the shade until it was feared that she may perish. At that point, Sa‘d went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and complained to him. Allah, exalted is He, revealed as a response this verse as well as the verse in Surah Luqman [31:14] and the verse in Surah al-Ahqaf [46:15]”.
Abu Sa‘id informed us> Abu Bakr al-Ghazi> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamdan> Abu Ya‘la> Abu Khaythamah> al-Hasan ibn Musa> Zuhayr> Simak ibn Harb> Mus‘ab ibn Sa‘d ibn Abi Waqqas> his father who said: “This verse was revealed about me. Umm Sa‘d [his mother] swore that she will never speak to me, eat or drink, until I disbelieve in Islam. She did this for three days until she passed out from exhaustion. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (We have enjoined on man kindness to parents…)”. This was narrated by Muslim from Abu Khaythamah.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou