The Mercy Of Allah (God)
“Limitless is your Lord in His mercy…”Qur’an 6:147
God Almighty is full of love and kindness to His creation. All blessings and goodness in this world and the next are clear proofs of His Mercy. Indeed, Islam teaches that God is more merciful toward us than our own mothers. How can it be otherwise, when some of God’s names and attributes include:
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The Acceptor of Repentance;
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The Compassionate;
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The Loving;
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The Forbearing One;
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The Most Gracious;
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The Most Merciful;
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The Source of Goodness;
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The Most Generous;
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The Bestower
These names all indicate that God is characterised by mercy, goodness and generosity. They testify to the vastness and perfection of His Mercy, which He blesses all of His creation. This same creation is addressed by God, when He says, “O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as the earth.”
Examples Of Allah’s Mercy & Blessings
“Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you deny?” Qur’an 55:13
Throughout life, people continually receive Allah’s blessings, be it good health, sight, hearing, nourishment, clean air, children, wealth and countless others. Some use their God-given gifts of intelligence and reasoning to acknowledge these blessings, grasp the purpose of their existence, and thereby submit themselves to Allah. Others, however, do not appreciate the Mercy of Allah toward their own selves, even though He feeds and sustains them despite their disobedience toward Him. They are given mobility, enjoyment, freedom of thought and action, despite their outright denial of Him. Their very existence would not be, were it not for the Mercy of Allah.
Ultimately, everyone has the free will to acknowledge their blessings, use them in a manner ordained by Allah (the Lord of mankind) and worship Him alone. Below, we have outlined a glimpse of such blessings, because “... if you were to try and count the favours of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.” Qur’an 16:18
Guidance Through Divine Scriptures & Prophets
“It is He Who has sent down the Book (the Qur’an) to you (Muhammad) with truth, confirming what came before it. And He sent down the Taurah and the Injeel (the original revelations revealed to Prophets Moses and Jesus respectively).” Qur’an 3:3
From the beginning of creation, man was not left to face the struggles of life alone. Due to God’s Mercy, man received revelation through Prophets, who conveyed and taught it to their people to guide and protect them. The most perfect and merciful of revelations was the Qur’an and the last of the prophets was Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The Qur’an – the final revelation – superseded and abrogated previous revelations, and is the ultimate mercy and guidance for mankind. Just as God sent Messengers in the past, He also sent mankind a living, perfect and practical example of how the Qur’an’s teachings of mercy and justice should be practically applied in our daily lives. This example was Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) - a mercy to mankind.
“And We (God) have not sent you (Muhammad) except as a mercy for mankind.” Qur’an 21:107
Following are just some of the Prophet’s sayings which are indicative of his mercy, kindness, tolerance and beautiful teachings:
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“Kindness is not found in anything except that it adds to its beauty, and is not withdrawn from anything except that it makes it deficient.”
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“The most perfect of believers in belief is the best of them in character.”
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“He is not a perfect Muslim who eats his fill while his neighbour goes hungry.”
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“Allah will not show mercy to him who does not show mercy to others.”