بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
Many of us forget the mercy Allah has placed upon mankind. From His creation to His forgiveness, he has bestowed the upmost mercy in creating ourselves and everything around us.
His mercy is unparalleled in comparison to any of His creations. The fact that we have love and compassion between one another is only by the mercy Allah has placed upon the earth.
The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Allah has one hundred mercies, out of which He has sent down only one for jinn, mankind, animals and insects, through which they love one another and have compassion for one another; and through it, wild animals care for their young. Allah has retained ninety-nine mercies to deal kindly with His slaves on the Day of Resurrection.” [Bukhari]
This mercy will only be given to the people who show mercy to others. This does not merely include mankind but one must be merciful to all of Allah’s creation.
The prophet (ﷺ) said:
“Those who are merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Be merciful to those on the earth and the One above the heavens will have mercy upon you.” [Tirmidhi]
“Verily, whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy.” [Tirmidhi]
All our provisions in this world is proof of Allah’s mercy. We forget what He has provided for us everyday especially when we are in need of something. Daylight and darkness is a blessing in itself. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“And out of His mercy He made for you the night and the day that you may rest therein and [by day] seek from His bounty and [that] perhaps you will be grateful.” 28:73
Allah knows of our flaws and weaknesses as He himself placed that upon us:
“And Allah wants to lighten for you [your difficulties]; and mankind was created weak.” 4:28
Thus He has decreed upon Himself mercy to forgive our sins:
“And when those come to you who believe in Our verses, say, ‘Peace be upon you. Your Lord has decreed upon Himself mercy: that any of you who does wrong out of ignorance and then repents after that and corrects himself – indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.'” 6:54
The people who receive more of Allah’s mercy are those who have acknowledged His blessings and favours; used them in a way which pleases Him; spend their wealth in charity and to look after the needy; employed their hands to care for orphans; utilised their gift of speech to speak good; and performed other honourable acts ordained by Allah.
“Obey Allah and the Messenger that you may obtain mercy.”3:132
“And this [Qur’an] is a Book We have revealed [which is] blessed, so follow it and fear Allah that you may receive mercy.” 6:155
“And establish prayer and give zakah and obey the Messenger – that you may receive mercy.” 24:56
Allah is the most merciful, however, He is also severe in penalty. One cannot try to deceive Allah and take advantage of His mercy by constantly committing the same sins without sincere repentance or resolving never to go back to the sin again.
“But repentance is not [accepted] of those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, ‘Indeed, I have repented now,’ or of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful punishment.” 4:18
We as Muslims are encouraged to have hope of reward for the good deeds we carry out while being concerned of the sins we commit. We repent sincerely while believing that Allah will forgive us. We feel contentment through the words of Allah and always have hope for the afterlife:
“Do you not see that Allah has subjected to you whatever is on the earth and the ships which run through the sea by His command? And He restrains the sky from falling upon the earth, unless by His permission. Indeed Allah, to the people, is Kind and Merciful.” 22:65
Allah knows best.