The divine attributes Raḥmān (the Compassionate) and Raḥīm (the Merciful) imply that Allāh is Oft Forgiving, protecting His creatures, “preserving them, guiding them, and leading them to clear light and higher life.” The word Raḥmān expresses Allah’s love to man therefore, Allāh’s relation to man is the relation par excellence of love, sympathy, concern, solicitude, compassion and mercy.” This is the reason He culminated the chain of his Prophets on the one He called as Raḥmah, divine Mercy.
Raḥmān and Raḥīm are the words derived from Raḥmah ‘which signifies tenderness, requiring the exercise of beneficence and thus comprising the idea of love and mercy.’ While the word Raḥmān denotes Allāh’s compassion towards all His creatures in general, Raḥīm denotes His compassion towards His worshippers in particular.
All this implies that the soul of Islam is two things: Respecting the Commandments (i.e. the Islāmic Sharī‘ah) of Allāh and showing compassion towards His creatures.
That is the reason Allah, the God of creation, sent his final messenger to whole of the humanity as an embodiment of divine Mercy and called him Raḥmatun Lil ‘Ālamīn, Mercy for the Worlds, and confirmed his Merciful nature in His Book thus:
“And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” (21:107).
The above Qur’ānic āyah describes the purpose of the holy Prophet’s divine mission as the Final Messenger (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam). It says that Muhammad (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam) is he who brings Mercy, Compassion, and Benevolence to all people and to the whole universe.
He was given the code of conduct (the Qur’ān) and the way of life (the Sunnah) that provide principles and details respectively for man to develop a complete system of life, the main ideals of which are justice, peace, mercy, compassion, tolerance and brotherhood.
Lift the curtains of hate and bigotry and you will see in broad day light that Muhammad (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam) has brought mercy and compassion to all people and to the whole universe.
The Way of life Muhammad (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam) has brought to the whole mankind encompasses universal values which are not specifically meant to benefit Muslims only, but to all mankind and creatures, which makes clear that Islam teaches its followers to live in peace, diversity, and harmony in this universe. So, honouring these universal values is not a Muslim’s responsibility alone but of every human who is sincere and serious and wants to live a responsible life in this world.
Allah says:
“Whoever honours the sacred rites of Allāh, for him it is good in the sight of his Lord.” (22:30)
The crux of these universal values, after worshipping Allāh alone, is what the beloved Prophet (Sallallahu alayhi wa Sallam) has propagated throughout his sacred life. Let’s have a glimpse of his Raḥmat. As he had been bestowed with the most sublime character, he used to be very kind and considerate towards other people. Even to his avowed enemies, he would never show disrespect. In the same manner he commanded his ummah in these words:
“Behave well towards people. (Al-Arba‘īn al-Nawawiyyah, Hadith. No. 18)
Allah’s love for His creatures is so great that any harm done to any single creature amounts to Him as if whole of His creation has been harmed and similarly any good done to any single creature is as if the whole creature has been benefited. Hence, He revealed to the “Mercy for the Worlds”:
“If any one slew a person—unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land—it would be as if he slew the whole people. And if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.” (5:32)
Raḥmatun lil ‘Ālamī (Sallallahu alyhi wa Sallam) was an orphan. So, he would feel and understand the pain of those who didn’t have parents. He knew well that the orphan and the beggar need love and mercy. We must perform our duties towards them. Therefore, theRaḥmān revealed to the embodiment of tenderness and love:
“Therefore, treat not the orphan with harshness, nor repulse him who asks.” (93:9-10)
Love and mercy towards the orphan demands that he should never be subjected to any injustice:
“To orphans restore their property (when they reach their age), nor substitute (your) worthless things for (their) good ones; and devour not their substances (by mixing it up) with your own. For this is indeed a great sin.” (4:2)
In addition to the orphans he laid great stress on kind treatment of girls, the weak, the poor and lowly, women and enjoined upon his ummah to show utmost mercy and affection towards them. He has also laid great stress that the virtuous, aged, and poor and needy should never be persecuted. Few of his aḥādīth in this regard are as under:
“By Allāh in whose hands is my life, you will not enter the Paradise unless you believe (in Islam), and you will not believe unless you love one another. May I tell you something so that you may love one another? Spread Salām (greeting with peace) between you.” (Muslim)
“I and one who takes care of an orphan, whether related to him or a stranger, will be like these two (like the forefinger and the middle finger of Allah’s Messenger) in Paradise.” (Muslim)
“He who works hard on behalf of old women and the indigent, is like a Mujahid in the cause of Allah; and the narrator thinks, he added: “and like the person standing in prayer and who never tires, and like one who observes the fast and does not break it.” (Bukhari and Muslim)
“One who brings up two girls right from their childhood till their maturity, will appear on the Day of Judgment attached to me like two fingers of hand and he joined his fingers.” (Muslim)
‘A’ishah, the mother of the believer’s, relates:
“A poor woman came to me with her two daughters. I gave her three dates. She gave one to each girl and wanted the third to eat herself. The two girls asked her for this also. So she divided it into two parts and gave one to each of the girls. I was much impressed by her action and mentioned all this to Allah’s Messenger . He said: “Allah has ordained Paradise for her in consequence of this action; or ‘Allāh freed her from the hell on account of this gesture.” (Muslim)
“Look for my pleasure among the weak ones, for you are helped (against our enemies) and provided (your subsistence) on account of the weak ones among you.” (Abu Dawud)
In his farewell address on the eve of his last Pilgrimage, after glorifying and praising Allah he cautioned his followers thus:
“Listen! Treat women with kindness….” (Tirmidhi)
“The most perfect Muslim in the matter of faith is one who has an excellent behaviour; and the best among you are those who Behave best towards their wives.” (Tirmidhi)
All the above quoted Qur’ānic āyāt and the aḥādīth clearly show that love and mercy for all is the hallmark of each and every teaching of the beloved and most respected messenger of Allāh.
His stress upon love, not hatred; peace, not violence; justice, not injustice; fairness, not discrimination; optimism, not pessimism and bravery, not cowardice, compels every Muslim to be considerate, peaceful, compassionate and caring for all.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the author.
The facts, analysis, assumptions and perspective appearing in the article do not reflect the views of GK.