الحمد لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على سيد المرسلين وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين
Let me begin by asking you and myself: What is it that ties and binds our hearts together; you may say, “Our common faith, our shared tradition, our collective heritage, and our distinct Islamic culture; yes, but essentially all these are rooted in the loving and tender mercy of Allah (SWT). And Allah identifies Muhammad (SAW) as a mercy for all creatures; as a mercy to the worlds. Addressing His beloved Messenger Allah says,
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
“We have not sent you, but as a mercy to the worlds” (al-Anbiya’, 21:107).
All the things we have learnt about Islam—the beliefs, the laws, the ethics, the code of conduct and behavior, and the obligations we have to carry out, are important. These are things that we are supposed to learn and practice. But at times we become careless and negligent in doing what we are asked to do. When it comes to our relationship with Allah (SWT), does He punish us or take us to task for every mistake we make and every sin we commit? No!
Knowing that we are imperfect and commit mistakes throughout life, He makes it clear that people who make mistakes, but then return to Him in sincerity and ask for His forgiveness, will be forgiven. As long as people are sincerely sorry for what wrong they have done, they must never lose hope in Allah’s mercy regardless of the magnitude of their sins. This truth is emphasized in a verse of the Qur’an, which says,
قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
“Say ‘O My servants who have committed excesses against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed Allah will forgive all sins. Indeed He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful.” (al-Zumar, 39:53)
It has been narrated in a Hadith, which says, “Had human beings not committed any sin, Allah would have replaced this species with another species that would commit sin so that He could forgive them.” So, Allah wants to forgive us and He wants us to feel His mercy in this life and in the hereafter.
One should not misunderstand this Hadith as a blanket sanction for committing sins. The emphasis of this Hadith is on the imperfection of human beings and its connection with Allah’s forgiveness and mercy. Unfortunately, much of the message what we are getting and what we are delivering to others is not the mercy, love and compassion of Allah. More often we are talking about the power and wrath of Allah and how we should fear Him. The Prophet (SAW) was told to convey to all people the good news that Allah keeps forgiving and is most merciful.
نَبِّئْ عِبَادِي أَنِّي أَنَا الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
“Tell My servants that I am indeed the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful” (Quran 15:49).
In order that we develop some appreciation of our relationship with Allah, listen to what Allah tells us in the Qur’an,
وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ
“My mercy extends to all things” (al-A’raf, 7:156).
And we learn through a hadith Qudsi in which Allah says, “My mercy prevails over my anger.”
Let us understand this phenomenon through an example. Just like in parental relationship with children, there are things children are supposed to do. There are ways the children are expected to behave. There are family rules, traditions, and norms. But, after all, when it comes to parental relationship, it is essentially based on mercy, love, and affection that often override other things. That is why children make mistakes and parents correct them. But then the parents also embrace the children with love and affection.
It is a fact of life that the perception we develop about someone affects our behavior and relationship. If we are afraid of our parents, we may develop one type of relationship. If we develop the relationship based on love and affection, it would be totally different. We have seen that our perception and knowledge of Allah, especially the way we understand and the way we are presented information and ideas about Him, is primarily how powerful He is in His knowledge and in His ability to affect our lives here and in the hereafter. But is that the only way Allah wants us to know or perceive Him? No.
In the Qur’an, Allah has been identified in many different ways. We all know that there are at least ninety-nine attributes of Allah collected from the Qur’an and the ahadith. But Allah specifically chose only two of these by which we should be remembering Him every time we begin something or every time we take the first step toward something. He does not want us to begin something by remembering Him as al-Qahhar (One whose vengeance nobody can withstand) or al-Jabbar (The Irresistible; The Compeller) or by any other name. There are only two attributes by which Allah wants us to remember every time we take a step in our life. What are those attributes? They are as we all know contained in “Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim“: ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim. So out of all the attributes of Allah that we might know or be familiar with, He wants us to remember Him by these two attributes. These attributes, therefore, are central to proper perception about Allah.
Those who are too harsh on themselves or others ought to know, as the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) has said: “On the Day of Judgment anyone who would be scrutinized in detail would be ruined.” We don’t have any kind of hope if we are going to be examined in detail in regard to any aspect of our lives. What is our hope then? The Prophet (SAW) has said: “Nothing would save you on the Day of Judgment, including your good deeds.” What would then save us? It is the Rahmah of Allah. Therefore, let us do our good deeds, let us have our correct faith, and let us perform our obligations as best as we can, but then leave the rest to Allah’s mercy; the same mercy that brings and binds us together as human beings.
Now, how do we develop an appreciation of the mercy or Rahmah of Allah? Allah has used certain examples for us to understand that. In this life, no one shows more unconditional love and affection than a mother. Nobody else! All other relationships are perhaps somewhat mixed and conditional. When it comes to mother’s love, it comes the closest to understanding the Rahmah of Allah. This is the understanding we get from the Prophet Muhammad (SAW). In one Hadith, it is reported that during one of the gatherings of the companions of the Prophet (SAW), there was a woman prisoner running anxiously to and fro in search of her missing child. When she found the child, she took it up in her lap, drew it close to her, and suckled it. The Prophet (SAW) asked his companions what they thought of that woman. He asked: Do you think this mother could ever throw her child into the fire? The companions replied, O Messenger of Allah! How can that be, possible? The Prophet (SAW) then said, if this is so, then do know that Allah loves His servants more than this mother loves her child.
Do your good deeds. Let me do my good deeds. But with all our imperfections, we have hope because Allah is much more merciful than we actually perceive and appreciate. We can’t put any numerical figure on Allah’s mercy. Yet, to make us understand, there is a Hadith the meaning of which is something like this: If Allah’s mercy is divided into one hundred parts, He has given just one percent of that to His creatures. And, this one percent is what all humans and animals share amongst themselves. What about the remaining ninety-nine percent? What is that for? Allah has saved that ninety-nine percent for the Day of Judgment where He will provide shade for the believers, make their accounting easy, and admit them into Paradise. That is my hope, and that is probably your hope too.
It is important to understand that Allah has not created us as perfect creatures so that we won’t make mistakes. Human beings are prone to make mistakes. The very first human being and his mate are perfect examples of our imperfection. Therefore, Allah does not want perfection from us. Rather, He expects that from time to time, if we falter or make mistake, we should not follow the path of Shaytan and be arrogant and persistent in our mistake. Rather, we should follow the footsteps of our first parents Adam and Hawwa (peace be upon them), which is, that we admit and recognize our mistakes, seek forgiveness and make a determined effort not to repeat the mistake again.
The closest we can think about how Allah feels toward us is, once again, the mother. It is important to be aware that the word Rahmah is the root of Allah’s two supreme attributes: ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim. The Arabic word for the womb is Rahm. Allah has brought us to this world through the same reproductive system, which in Arabic is named Rahm derived from the same root from which the two supreme attributes of Allah: ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim are derived.
Now think about this. Any relationship based on fear is different than a relationship that is based on love and affection. Whenever fear is gone, we tend to act differently. If there is no fear, our attitude becomes different. But love and affection are like a magnet. Fear repels. Fear does not draw people or their hearts closer, but love and affection do. It is very important that our understanding of Allah should be based on just the way He wants.
It is not that He is not al-Qahhar; He is. It is not that He is not al-Jabbar; He is. But Allah Himself wants us to perceive and remember Him differently. In Surat al-Fatiha, the one we recite in every unit of prayer, it is pointed out that Allah is ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim. So let our hearts be filled with mercy—with Rahmah so that our family bonds can be better and stronger. So that when we hug our children or kiss them, when we embrace or hold them, when we pass our hands over their head, it is nothing less than the manifestation of Allah’s Rahmah flowing through us.
Once touched by the Rahmah of Allah, our personality is transformed. We begin to have positive effects on our relationship at the family level. Our relationship with neighbors, Muslims or non-Muslims, individuals or nations, would also be positively transformed. From domestic violence to political leadership, from social responsibility to economic development, from conflict resolution to interfaith relations, the implication of assimilating the message of Rahmah in our life is so pervasive.
The love and mercy that Allah has for us should prevent us to disobey Him and should motivate us to obey Him. Despite our best sincere efforts, if we falter, however badly, we always have hope for His mercy, forgiveness and love, as long as we are humble, submit to Him, and repent to Him. It is His Rahmah that is going to save us. Allah’s Rahmah is ultimately what we all need.
The Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said that no man’s good deeds are enough to get him admitted into Paradise, but it is only by the mercy of Allah that people will enter Paradise. Our deeds are only the tools; the means to get close to Allah so that we can be hopeful of His mercy.
Let me conclude with a hadith and a prophetic du’a. The Prophet (SAW) said, “The Most Merciful shows mercy to those who have mercy on others. Show mercy to those on earth, and the One above the heaven will show mercy to you.” And the du’a is: “O Allah, I ask for Your love, and the love of those persons who love You and love of actions that bring me closer to Your love”
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ المُسْلِمينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتْ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهْ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ
وَصَلَّ اللهُ عَلَى خيرِ خَلقِهِ مُحمَّدٍ وعَلَى آلِه وأصْحَابِه أجْمَعِين- بِرَحْمَتِكَ يا أرْحَمَ الرَّاحِمِين
