Short answer
Yes, in meaning. The short wording "Paradise is under the feet of mothers" comes through weak chains, but an authentic hadith in Sunan al-Nasa'i says the same thing: a man wanted to go on a military campaign, and the Prophet ﷺ asked if he had a mother, then told him to stay with her, "for Paradise is beneath her feet". Serving your mother is a road to Jannah.
Honouring and serving one's mother is fard, and her right to companionship and care comes before the father's, as the hadith 'your mother, then your mother, then your mother, then your father' shows. Hanafi scholars also hold that a child may not leave for voluntary jihad or long risky travel that leaves a needy parent without their permission.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Mu'awiyah ibn Jahimah reported that his father came to the Prophet ﷺ wanting to join a campaign and asked his advice. The Prophet ﷺ asked, "Do you have a mother?" He said yes. He replied: "Then stay with her, for Paradise is beneath her feet." Al-Nasa'i records it with a sound chain. The popular shorter form, "Paradise lies at the feet of mothers", is reported through weak chains, so when you quote it, the Nasa'i wording is the safer one.
The meaning is humility and service. Staying close to your mother, caring for her and being gentle with her is a path to Paradise, even preferred over a voluntary act as great as jihad when she needs you. It does not mean literally kissing feet, and it does not mean only mothers matter.
A man asked who most deserves his good company. The Prophet ﷺ said "your mother" three times, then "your father". Allah explains why: "His mother carried him, increasing her in weakness upon weakness" (31:14), and she "gave birth to him with hardship" (46:15). The father's rights remain great too: Hanafi books say the mother comes first in service and kindness, and the father first in respect.
Read more in mothers in Islam, hadith about parents and disrespecting parents.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Luqman 31:14
وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُۥ وَهْنًا عَلَىٰ وَهْنٍۢ وَفِصَٰلُهُۥ فِى عَامَيْنِ أَنِ ٱشْكُرْ لِى وَلِوَٰلِدَيْكَ إِلَىَّ ٱلْمَصِيرُ ﴿١٤﴾
And We have enjoined upon man [care] for his parents. His mother carried him, [increasing her] in weakness upon weakness, and his weaning is in two years. Be grateful to Me and to your parents; to Me is the [final] destination.
The mother's hardship is the reason for her great right.
Quran, Surah Al-Ahqaf 46:15
وَوَصَّيْنَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنَ بِوَٰلِدَيْهِ إِحْسَٰنًا ۖ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُۥ كُرْهًۭا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًۭا ۖ وَحَمْلُهُۥ وَفِصَٰلُهُۥ ثَلَٰثُونَ شَهْرًا ۚ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُۥ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةًۭ قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِىٓ أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَىَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَٰلِدَىَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَٰلِحًۭا تَرْضَىٰهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِى فِى ذُرِّيَّتِىٓ ۖ إِنِّى تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّى مِنَ ٱلْمُسْلِمِينَ ﴿١٥﴾
And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment. His mother carried him with hardship and gave birth to him with hardship, and his gestation and weaning [period] is thirty months. [He grows] until, when he reaches maturity and reaches [the age of] forty years, he says, "My Lord, enable me to be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents and to work righteousness of which You will approve and make righteous for me my offspring. Indeed, I have repented to You, and indeed, I am of the Muslims."
Allah highlights the mother's sacrifice.
Sunan an-Nasa'i 3104
Graded hasan sahih... فالزمها فإن الجنة تحت رجليها ...
"Then stay with her, for Paradise is beneath her feet."
The authentic source of the saying.
Sahih al-Bukhari 5971
Sahih... من أحق بحسن صحابتي قال أمك قال ثم من قال أمك ...
"Who most deserves my good company? He said: your mother. He asked: then who? He said: your mother."
The mother's right comes first.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Siyar, opening chapter. A child does not go on voluntary jihad without the parents' permission.
- al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Karahiyya, on the rights of parents. The mother comes first in service and the father in respect.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.