Mercy

When Allah was done creating all of us in our best of forms, He declared, “Your Lord has taken it on Himself to be merciful.” (Surah Al-An’am: 54) This very ayah illuminates the path of a believer with the glorious light of hope. And as if that wasn’t enough to flood the heart of a believer with peace, Allah sent another ayah, along which some more of tranquillity descended upon the believers. The ayah is:

“My mercy encompasses all things.” (Quran 7:156) There are two types of hopelessness that a believer finds in their heart. 1. After sinning, they believe that they won’t be forgiven which pushes them into the darkness of hopelessness. 2. Being repeatedly inflicted with tests and trials, they lose hope in the mercy of Allah.

However, there is never a situation for a believer where there’s no hope for them. The first type of hopelessness can be replaced with hope when a muslim understands one thing; no matter how deep an individual has sunken in the filth of sins, they can always rise and cleanse themselves with tawbah and Astaghfar. For our beloved Mohammad ﷺ explained in a hadith e qudsi that Allah says He will forgive anyone who asks for forgiveness even of their sins have reached the sky.

Tawbah is just like taking a shower after rolling in dirt. Any sin can be forgiven since our Lord is the most forgiving. As for the other type of hopelessness, it could be eradicated if only people try understand that Allah is Al-Hakeem and Al-Wadud at the same time! Which is to say that when Allah afflicts you with something, it is because of these two reasons:

a. Because he knows what benefit is can cause you. (Since He is Al-Hakeem, the wisest). b. Because He loves you! (Since He is Al-Wadud, the most loving).

Would we want someone we love to get all the goodness and happiness? Of course, we would! For instance, let’s suppose that a toddler wants to chew on someone’s slippers that are laden with dirt and germs. Will any sane person let him do that? l mean, he enjoys it so much, he cries badly not knowing what dangers are in it for him when anyone snatches it away. The child doesn’t know but an adult does. Right? So, any adult being more knowledgeable than the child and out of their love for him will never allow him to chew on a dirt laden slipper no matter how bad he cries, instead, they will hand the child a toy which is harmless. Now, let this sink in. Allah knows and we don’t know anything. When Allah afflicts a person with trials, He knows that it is good for them. If Allah takes away something from someone, it means that Allah loved them and knew that very well that whatever He has taken away from them was harmful which is why He took it away.

Listen to what He says because He is very clear about His intentions as stated in the glorious Quran: “And Allah wants to lighten the burden for you.” (Surah Nisa v.28) Doesn’t this ayah shines in the glorious light of hope? Doesn’t this ayah birth the idea that no matter wherever we are, whatever we do, we can always turn to Allah and be near Him since He is merciful beyond comprehension?