'Keep Your Compassion Alive'

The Divine Quality of Mercy/Compassion

In Islam, mercy implies the fear of Allah the Almighty. For it is with this fear of Allah the Almighty that the highest degrees (of faith etc.) are reached, torments are dispelled, the evil influence of Satan is repulsed. According to the Quranic verses and various Hadiths, it is clear that life on earth is built on foundations and principles that engender happiness and encourage creatures to help one another with mercy foremost.

Indeed, mercy is a great quality that Allah the Almighty has given to the blessed and deprived the unfortunate. Mercy is implanted in the heart of every creature but it is up to this one to know how to keep this mercy alive for the sake of Allah the Almighty.

According to Abu Huraira (ra) the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, as reported through the pages of Sahih Al-Bukhari: “Truly Allah possesses a hundred mercies and of them there is one mercy through which all creation show mercy to one another and ninety nine are for the day of resurrection...” Alhamdulillah!

Mercy is one of the beautiful qualities of Allah the Almighty. For us, the creatures of Allah the Almighty, mercy is a quality of perfection. With mercy, creatures feel tenderness towards one another. He who is strong has pity/ compassion on him who is weak. That's mercy. The rich man never hesitates to help the poor, the destitute and the needy. That's mercy. For us (Muslims) in the Ummah, mercy is even an obligation at the level of the family as well as of society. And that pleases Allah the Almighty Who then sends His blessings on those who grant mercy (to others) in their daily occupations. 

Qur'an on the Human Condition

 Surah At-Tin: A Commentary

“In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful; By the Fig and the Olive, And the Mount of Sinai, And this City of security; We have indeed created man in the best of moulds, Then do We reduce him to the lowest of the low, Except for those who believe and do righteous deeds, for they shall have a reward uninterrupted; Then what can, after this, contradict thee, as to the judgment (to come)? Is not Allah the Best of judges?” (At the end, we reply: Bala! Wa ana ala Zaaleka minash Shahideen - “Indeed, I am among those who witness to this (truthful reality)). (At-Tin 95: 1-9).

In the light of these verses, we see that all that which exists in nature has been created for the fulfilment of man in all aspects. Through divine revelations, we have learnt that Allah has created man in the best of moulds. And we have learnt also that man can also become worst than an animal, or he can perfect himself morally and spiritually in such a way that he reaches a high station and accedes to the presence of Allah. When he succeeds in perfecting himself, he reaches such a state where he is absolutely convinced of the unicity of God (Allah) and he realises that all that this world and the universe contain, and even himself, all belong to Allah. He thus makes much effort to please Allah and come near to Him. When he makes such efforts to accede to Allah, he cultivates love, respect and the fear of Allah (Taqwa) - in his heart; and all this helps him to come out of his animalistic state and become moral and spiritual.

When he finds himself in the state where he develops and maintains morality, he develops an excellent character where he acts with goodness and wisdom and he accomplishes such actions as to help him attain his goal. Nobody besides Allah knows his heart and he cannot hide anything from Allah, and on the Day of Judgement, it is Allah, The Most Wise, and the most Just of all judges - the best Judge - Who shall judge him. If he had no sincerity in his heart and used to do (good) deeds only for the eyes of people, then his punishment shall be grievous and painful for him. But if he was sincere towards Allah and had a pure and clean heart, then his value before the eyes of Allah shall increase and his reward shall be good and eternal (for him to enjoy).

'Freewill' and the Diverging Paths

Allah has given us - mankind - the freedom to choose our paths, i.e., freewill. We can either choose to attach ourselves to this temporal world and become worse than an animal, or we have the choice to forego the attractions of this world and attach ourselves firmly to Allah, whereby we choose to go forward for the moral and spiritual progress of our souls so as to reap Allah (as reward). We shall attain to such high degree of morality and spirituality only by obeying Allah completely and when Allah shall manifest Himself at any time, any hour, we need to grip firm to the rope of Allah and follow His instructions and His guide (and/ or guidance) so that Allah may be pleased with us and we also be pleased with Him (Allah).

Exalted status of the Humans

Man has been bestowed superiority to an animal. Man has the power of reasoning and he has the capacity to take a decision whereas an animal relies only on its (basic) instincts. Therefore, man should use that (God-given) capacity - i.e. his reasoning power/ his intelligence - to take the decision to leave his animalistic state and progress further to reach the stage of purity, morality and spirituality. 

Divine Revelations and Actual Signs

There are scientists who say that the earth on which we live is very small. Compared to other divine creations, for them the earth is only an insignificant thing. Verily, neither what they say is accurate, nor is it our belief that God reveals Himself only through a particular nation or sect. God has no connection or special love for a particular nation. 

What is correct (to state) is that God, the God of the universe as a whole has created the means to physically nourish and develop everything that He has put on earth without distinction, and according to our faith, that same God (Allah) is “Rabbul Aalameen”, that is to say, He is the One Who provides the whole universe everything we need; it is He who gives us all sorts of favours/ benefits. He has provided cereals (i.e., food and also drink), air, water, light, etc. to all His creation.

Similarly, in every period of human existence and to every nation He has, from time to time sent reformers to reform peoples. As stated in Surah Fatir of the Holy Quran, Allah the Almighty is the God of the universe. 

In fact, in this regard, we find no contradiction in the scriptures that were given to the nations from time to time. This is so because the advent of a reformer is a necessity when the world tends to indulge in evil and unethical practices such as lying, stealing, quarrels and general immorality that lead people to move away from purity and virtue and to be enslaved by selfishness. Their submission to such wrong practices/ to such evils is such that they abandon the worship of God and they indulge in idolatry.

God takes care of the physical and spiritual well-being of man. His Munificence requests that in such times of spiritual darkness, He needs to appoint a person to reform (mankind) and the concept of such a representative (of God) does not affect any law of nature.

Islam on Protection of the Environment

Cleanliness is not a secondary issue. Islam has placed much importance on cleanliness as it is considered an integral part of our faith. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: “Purification is half of faith.” (Muslim).

It is also said in the Quran: “Allah does not intend to make difficulty for you; He only wants to purify you and complete His favour upon you, that you may be grateful.” (Al-Maida, 5: 7).

And it also mentions that “Allah loves those who repent and who purify themselves.” (Al-Baqara 2: 223).

However, cleanliness applies not only to the body but it also relates to our environment. The Holy Prophet (pbuh) challenges us: “Keep clean the area in front of your house so as not to offend passersby.”

Then we understand how important it is to properly maintain one’s interior, not only that, but also to respect the environment in which we live, that is to say, our neighbourhood, our city and above all, nature. This is an order of our beloved Prophet (pbuh). Therefore, as Muslims, we must comply to this instruction if we do not want to incur the wrath of Allah (swt) upon us. 

Also, do not forget that our behaviour is a reflection of Islam. Others judge our religion through our behaviour. Some believe that a well-kept house is a waste of time and is quite unimportant in the eyes of Allah (swt). Now we have just pointed out that it is not.