Examine Our Mercy

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum

Dear Friends

I pray that you are well.

Having mercy is among the excellent qualities of Islam, which take one towards the broad path of uprightness until they prepare the possessor of the qualities for the greatest generosity.

Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "A bedouin came to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, and asked, "Do you kiss your children? We do not kiss them.' The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Can I put mercy in your hearts after Allah has removed it from them?'"

Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, kissed Hasan ibn 'Ali while al-Aqra' ibn Habis at-Tamimi was sitting with him. Al-Aqra' observed, 'I have ten children and I have not kissed any of them.' The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, looked at him and said, 'Whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy.'"

Mercy is not removed except from someone who is to be damned. If mercy is placed in the heart, it produces meanings of kindness, gentleness, goodness, tenderness and avidness to benefit others and concern for the humanity. The heart containing mercy produces gentleness of speech and kindness in dealing with others. The merciful person is more concern to benefit others than himself.

The one who is merciful to Allah's servant for Allah’s sake, Allah is merciful to him. This person will have a great portion of the Mercy of Allah, Al-Rahman, because recompense is in accordance to a work.

We should examine our mercy towards the young and the old, specifically towards the weak, the poor, the needy, the sick, the handicapped and those who are inflicted with calamities.

If mercy is stirred up in our hearts, it produces an avidness to give happiness to the hearts of people. We will be keen and will race and vie others to give happiness to the hearts of those who are around us, and hope that their Creator will give us happiness during our lifetime, time of death and after death.

In some traditions, someone who met his Muslim brother with some type of goodness, it was an obligation upon Allah, figuratively, to give him happiness on the Day of Resurrection. No believer gives happiness to another believer except that Allah creates from that happiness an angel that comforts him in the grave and walks with him through the various events of the Day of Judgment until that angel causes him to enter Paradise. The angel will ask him in the grave, "Do you know me?" ... "I am the happiness that you gave to so-and-so on such-and-such day."

Avidness in striving to give happiness to people, to be sensitive to people's feelings and to avoid hurting people, is a quality from the quality of Islam that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and grant him peace, brought to us.

Indeed, the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the exemplar. Allah says,

وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ

And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds. (Qur'an Anbiya' 21:107)

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the most sublime example of giving happiness to the believer. Someone who sat with the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, would think that he was the most honorable of all people to the Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace. This is because the one who sat with him would see his kindness and beautiful method of giving happiness to the heart of those around him, Allah bless him and grant him peace.

The one who would draw near to Allah, do so by fulfilling the needs of Muslims and do so with truthfulness and sincerity. His heart is full of the meaning of what he said. His intentions continue to be better than his actions. He wished he had done more and he did what he could that is within his power.

This is the quality of our being truthful in mercy--our avidness to give happiness to the hearts of the believers. As opposed to that of a hypocrite who perform work but the intention was evil and if the work is evil, the intention is worse.

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "On the Day of Judgment the dearest and closest to me, as regards my company, will be those persons who will bear the best moral character. Those among you, who talk with affectation and are given to boasting, will be the most repugnant to me and farthest from me on the Day of Judgment." [Tirmidhi]

The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "The best of you is the one who is best to his family and I am the best of you to my family." [Tirmidhi]

May the Most Generous of the generous bless us with the quality of mercy such that we have a large portion of His Mercy. Ameen.

Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.

And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam