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THE
PROPHET OF UNIVERSAL MERCY
The
beginning of existence was an act of mercy and compassion
Without mercy the universe would be in chaos. Everything has
come into existence through compassion and by compassion it
continues to exist in harmony.
Muslim
sages say: ‘The universe is the breath of the
All-Compassionate One’. That is, the universe was created as a
manifestation of God’s Name, the All-Compassionate. Its
subsistence depends on the same Name. This Name manifests
itself, first of all, as the All-Provider so as to secure the
subsistence or survival of living creatures through food or
nourishment. Besides, life is the foremost and most manifest
blessing of God Almighty, and the true and everlasting life is
the life of the Hereafter. Since man can deserve this life by
acting in a way to please God, God sent Prophets and revealed
Scriptures out of His compassion for mankind. For this reason,
while mentioning His blessings upon mankind in the sura al-Rahman
(the All-Merciful) in the Qur’an, He begins:
Al-Rahman
(the All-Merciful). He taught the Qur’an. He created man.
He taught him speech. (al-Rahman, 55.1-4)
All
aspects of this life are a rehearsal for the afterlife and every
creature is engaged in action to this end. In every effort order
is evident and in every achievement compassion resides. Some ‘natural’
events or social convulsions in the human order which seem to
man disagreeable at first sight should not be regarded as
incompatible with compassion. They are like dark clouds or
lightning and thunder, which, although frightening for man,
bring us good tidings of rain. Thus, the whole universe, from
minutest particles to gigantic galaxies, sings the praises of
the All-Compassionate.
The
universe is, in the language of Muslim sages, God’s ‘created
book’ issued from His Attribute of Will. To write a book which
no one could understand would be an exertion in vain and God is
absolutely beyond such futility. So, He created Muhammad, upon
him be peace and blessings, one who would instruct people in the
meaning of the universe. Second, He taught man His Commandments
through Muhammad in the Qur’an. Only by acting in accordance
with these Commandments can man gain an eternal life of
happiness. The Qur’an is the ultimate and most comprehensive
form of Divine Revelation, Islam is the last, perfected and
universal form of Divine Religions, and the Prophet Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings, is the embodiment of Divine
Compassion, one whom God sent not save as a mercy for all the
worlds.
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is like a
spring of pure water in the heart of a desert, or like a source
of light in the darkness enveloping the universe. Whoever
appeals to this spring can take as much water as to quench his
thirst and is purified of all his dirt or pollution, spiritual
or intellectual, and illumined with the light of belief.
Mercy was
a like a magical key in the hands of God’s Messenger, upon him
be peace and blessings. He opened with this key the doors of the
hearts so hardened and rusty as one thought it was impossible to
open them, and lighted a torch of belief in them.
God’s
Messenger preached Islam, the religion of universal mercy.
Despite this, some so-called ‘champions of humanism’ accuse
Islam of being ‘a religion of the sword’. However, this is a
sheer deception. They seem to wail over an animal killed in some
part of the world or raise their voices whenever one from them
is harmed, but they do not bat an eyelid when Muslims are
massacred. Their world is built on personal interest. It should
be pointed out that the abuse of the feeling of compassion is as
harmful and sometimes more harmful than being devoid of
compassion altogether.
The
amputation of a gangrenous limb is an act of compassion to the
rest of the whole body. Likewise, oxygen and hydrogen, mixed in
the proper ratios, form one of the most vital of substances.
However, when this ratio changes, each element resumes its
original combustible identity. It is likewise of great
importance to apportion the amount of compassion and to identify
who deserves it. ‘Compassion for a wolf sharpens its appetite,
and not being content with what it receives, it demands even
more.’ Compassion for a rebel makes him more aggressive,
encouraging him to offend against others. Compassion rather
requires that one should be prevented from doing wrong. God’s
Messenger says: Help your brother whether he be just or unjust.
The Companions asked: ‘How shall we help our unjust brother?’
He replied: You help him by preventing him from doing
injustice. So, compassion also requires that those who take
pleasure in poisoning like a snake should either be deprived of
their poison or prevented from poisoning. Or else, the
administration of the world will be left to ‘cobras’.
The
compassion of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, encompasses every creature. Indeed, he was also an
invincible commander and an able statesman. He knew that to
leave the world to blood-stained, blood-thirsty people would be
tyranny of the most terrible kind to all the oppressed and
wronged people. His compassion therefore required that lambs
should be able to live in the utmost security against the
attacks of wolves. He desired, of course, the guidance of
everyone. This was his greatest concern, as stated in the Qur’an:
Yet
it may be, if they believe not in this Message, you will
consume yourself, following after them, with grief. (al-Kahf,
18.6)
But what
could he do for those who persisted in unbelief and actually
waged war against him in order to destroy him and his Message?
He had to fight against his enemies out of his universal
compassion that encompasses every creature. It was because of
this compassion that when he was severely wounded in the battle
of Uhud, he held his hands open towards God and prayed: O
God, forgive my people, for they do not know.1
In Makka,
his people inflicted on him every kind of suffering eventually
forcing him to emigrate to Madina, and then waged on him war for
five years. However, when he conquered Makka without bloodshed
in the twenty-first year of his Prophethood, he asked the Makkan
unbelievers, awaiting his decision about them: How do you expect
me to treat you? They responded unanimously: ‘You are a noble
one, the son of a noble one.’ He announced to them his
decision:
You
may go away! No reproach this day shall be on you; may God
forgive you. He is the Most Compassionate of the
Compassionate.2
The same
announcement was made by Sultan Mehmed, the Conqueror, to the
defeated Byzantines, when he conquered Istanbul, eight and a
quarter centuries later. Such is the universal compassion of
Islam.
The
Messenger’s compassion towards the believers was of the utmost
degree. The Qur’an describes his compassion in the following
verse:
There
has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves;
grievous to him is your suffering; anxious is he over you,
full of concern for you, for the believers full of pity,
compassionate. (al-Tawba, 9.128)
He
lowered unto believers his wing of tenderness through mercy (al-Hijr,
15.88), and was the ‘guardian’ of believers and nearer to
them than their selves (al-Ahzab, 33.6). When one of his
Companions died, he asked those present at the funeral whether
that Companion had left any unpaid debt. On learning that he had
left a debt, he mentioned the above quoted verse and announced:
I
am his guardian. Let the creditors appeal to me to collect
their debt.3
The
compassion of God’s Messenger even encompassed hypocrites and
unbelievers. Although he recognized the hypocrites of his time,
he never disclosed them so that they could enjoy the rights of
full citizenship to which their outward confession of faith and
practice entitled them. Since they lived among Muslims, their
unbelief in eternal life after death may have been reduced or
changed to doubt, and therefore their fear of death and the pain
caused by the assertion of eternal non-existence after death
might have been diminished. As for unbelievers, God removed the
collective destruction from them. He had eradicated many peoples
before. God says:
But
God would never chastise them while you were among them;
God would never chastise them as they begged forgiveness.
(al-Anfal, 8.33)
This
verse refers not only to the unbelievers in the time of God’s
Messenger, but also to all those coming later. God will not
destroy peoples altogether so long as people who follow the
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, continue to live in
the world. Besides, He has left ‘the door of repentance’
open until the Last Day. Anyone can accept Islam or beg God’s
forgiveness, however sinful he is. For this reason, a Muslim’s
enmity towards unbelievers is, in fact, in the form of pitying
them. When ‘Umar, the second Caliph, saw a priest of eighty
years, he sat down and sobbed. When asked why he was sobbing, he
replied: ‘God assigned him so long a life span, but he has not
been able to find the true path.’
‘Umar
was the disciple of God’s Messenger, who said:
I
was not sent as one to call down curses on people, but I
was sent as a mercy.4
He also
said:
I
am Muhammad, and Ahmad (praised one), and Muqaffi (the
Last Prophet); and I am also Hashir (the final Prophet in
the presence of whom the dead will be resurrected); and
the Prophet of repentance (the Prophet for the cause of
whom ‘the door’ of repentance will always remain
open), and the Prophet of mercy.5
The
archangel Gabriel also benefited from the mercy of the Qur’an,
which was revealed to God’s Messenger. Once he asked Gabriel
whether he had any share in the mercy contained in the Qur’an.
Gabriel answered, ‘Yes, O God’s Messenger,’ and explained,
I
had not been certain about my end. However, when the verse
(One) obeyed, and moreover, trustworthy and secured (al-Takwir,
81.21) was revealed, I felt secure about my end.6
When Ma‘iz
was punished for fornication, one of the Companions reproached
him saying: ‘He disclosed the sin he had committed secretly
and died like a dog.’ God’s Messenger frowned at him and
said:
You
have backbitten your friend. His repentance and asking God’s
pardon for his sin would be enough for the forgiveness for
all the sinners in the world.7
A member
of the clan of Banu Muqarrin beat his maidservant. The poor
woman referred the matter to God’s Messenger, upon him be
peace and blessings, who sent for the master and said to him: You
have beaten her without any justifiable right. So, set her free.8
Setting a slave free was far better for his or her master than
being punished in the Hereafter because of the slave.
God’s
Messenger was particularly compassionate towards children. When
he saw a child crying, he sat beside him or her and shared his
or her feelings. He felt the pain of a mother for her child more
than the mother herself. Once he said:
I
stand in prayer and wish to prolong it. However, I hear
the cry of a child and cut the prayer short for the
anxiety which the mother is feeling.9
He took
children in his arms and hugged them. He was once hugging his
beloved grandsons, Hasan and Hussayn, when Aqra ibn Habis told
him: ‘I have got ten children. So far, I haven’t kissed any
of them.’
God’s
Messenger responded:
The
one with no pity for others is not pitied.10
According
to another version, he said:
What
can I do for you if God has removed from you the feeling
of compassion?11
Once, he
said:
Take
pity on those on earth so that those in the heavens should
have pity on you.12
Sa‘d
ibn ‘Ubada once became ill. God’s Messenger visited him in
his house and, on seeing his faithful Companion in a pitiful
state, he was moved to tears. Then, he said:
God
does not punish because of tears, nor because of grief,
but he punishes because of this, and he pointed to his
tongue.13
When ‘Uthman
ibn Mad‘un died, he wept profusely. During the funeral, a
woman remarked: ‘ ‘Uthman flew, like a bird, to Paradise.’
Even in that mournful state, the Prophet did not lose his
balance and corrected the woman:
How
do you know that he went to Paradise while even I do not
know, and I am a Prophet?14
God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, always protected and
supported, both prior to and during his Prophethood, widows,
orphans, the poor and disabled. When he returned home in
excitement from Mount Hira after the first Revelation, his wife,
Khadija, told him:
I
hope you will be the Prophet of this Umma, you always tell
the truth, fulfill the trust, support your relatives, help
the poor and weak, and feed guests.15
His
compassion encompassed not only human beings, but also animals.
We hear from him that a prostitute was guided to truth by God
and ultimately went to Paradise because she gave water to a poor
dog dying of thirst, whilst another woman was condemned to the
torments of Hell because she left a cat to die of hunger.16
Once on
return from a military campaign, a few Companions took away the
chicks of a bird from their nest to stroke them. The mother bird
came back and, when it could not find its chicks in the nest, it
began to fly around screeching. When informed of the matter, God’s
Messenger became angry and ordered the chicks to be put back in
the nest.17
Once he
told his Companions that one of the previous Prophets was
reproached by God because he set on fire a nest of ants.18
He was in
Mina when some of his Companions once attacked a snake to kill
it. However, the snake managed to escape. Watching this from
afar, God’s Messenger remarked: It was saved from your
evil, as you were from its.19
As
reported by Ibn ‘Abbas, when God’s Messenger once saw a man
sharpening his knife directly before the sheep he would
slaughter, he said to him: Do you desire to kill it many
times?20 ‘Abdullah ibn Ja’far narrates:
God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, once went to a
garden in Madina with a few of his Companions. There was a
very scrawny camel in a corner. On seeing God’s
Messenger, it began to shed tears. The Messenger went to
the camel and, after staying beside it for some time,
severely warned the owner to feed the camel properly.21
The love
and compassion of God’s Messenger for all kinds of creatures
was not of the kind claimed by today’s ‘humanists’. He was
sincere and balanced in his love and compassion. He was more
compassionate than any other person. He was a Prophet raised by
God, the Creator and Sustainer of all beings, for the guidance
and happiness of conscious beings - mankind and jinn - and the
harmony of existence. So, he lived not for himself but for
others; he is a mercy for all the worlds.
1. Bukhari, “Anbiya’,”
54; Muslim, “Jihad,” 104.
2. I. Hisham, Sira, 4.55; I. Kathir, al-Bidaya,
4.344.
3. Muslim, “Fara’iz,” 14; Bukhari, “Istiqraz,” 11.
4. Muslim, “Birr,” 87.
5. I. Hanbal, 4.395; Muslim, “Fada‘il,” 126.
6. Qadi ‘Iyad, al-Shifa’, 1.17.
7. Muslim, “Hudud,” 17-23; Bukhari, “Hudud,” 28.
8. Bukhari, “Adhan,” 65; Muslim, “Salat,” 192.
9. Bukhari, “Adab,” 18.
10. Bukhari, “Adab,” 18; Muslim, “Fada’il,” 64; I.
Maja, “Adab,” 3.
11. Tirmidhi, “Birr,” 16.
12. Bukhari, “Jana’iz,” 45; Muslim, “Jana’iz,” 12.
13. Bukhari, “Jana’iz,” 3.
14. Muslim, “Ayman,” 31, 33; I. Hanbal, 3.447.
15. I. Sa‘d, Tabaqat, 1.195;
16. Bukhari, “Anbiya’,” 54, “Musaqat,” 9; Muslim, “Salam,”
153; I. Hanbal, 2.507.
17. Abu Dawud, “Adab,” 164, “Jihad,” 112; I. Hanbal,
1.404.
18. Bukhari, “Jihad,” 153; Muslim, “Salam,” 147.
19. Nasa’i, “Hajj,” 114; I, Hanbal, 1.385.
20. Hakim, Mustadrak, 4.231, 233.
21. Suyuti, al-Khasa’is al-Kubra’, 2.95; Haythami, Majma‘,
9.9.
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