TRANSLATION: Khutbah, "Mercy To All The Worlds" March 18, 2011

In the Name of Allaah; the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful


All thanks and praise is due to Allaah, Creator and Sustainer of all the worlds. Blessings and peace are upon our master, Muhammad, and his family, and his companions all together.

O MUSLIMS!
We haven’t made a mistake with you in these lessons to implant this noble Islamic upbringing in the souls of our children, and urging ourselves upon the adoption of these characteristics which will mend us, transforming us into the appearances of men and women who are believers in Allaah as Lord, and al-Islaam as Deen, and Muhammad as Prophet and Messenger.
My Khutbah today is about Mercy, and mercy is: a gentleness in the heart, sensitivity in the innermost reaches, sharpening of the intellect, taking a compassionate approach with others, feeling pain for them, having sympathy for them and to hold back their tears, and to assist with alleviating their concerns and grief – therefore, the Muslim meets the people, one and all, and in their heart for them is nothing but preserved sympathy and a hidden piety. So they suffice them and alleviate from them some of their struggle, according to their ability. This is from the foundations of the noble spirituality which al-Islaam urges us to.
For that reason it’s required of every individual Muslim that they are merciful and sympathetic, not just with the believers, and not just with mankind, but it is for every creation of Allaah, the Exalted, from humankind and animal-kind. This is because it’s an attribute from the attributes of creations Creator, Glory is to Him and may He be exalted, “The Entirely Merciful, and the Especially Merciful.”
So, the Mercy of Allaah, Glory be to Him, is expansive and no one knows its true measure except Him. He said what means, “My mercy encompasses all things. So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me.” [Al-A’raaf 7:156] The Prophet (Allaah’s blessings and peace be upon him) said, “Allaah made mercy into 100 parts and He kept 99 of them, He sent down only one part to the earth; it’s from that one part that all of creation shows mercy, so much so that you see an animal raise its hoof away from its child for fear that it may be harmed.” [Agreed Upon]
Slaves of Allaah, you should know that mercy and compassion are from the most distinctive attributes of those the Prophet (Allaah’s blessings and peace be upon him) was endowed with, and certainly Allaah has described him as such in the Glorious Qur’aan. The Exalted said what means, “There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful.” [At-Tawbah 9: 128] And He said what means, “And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.” [Al-Anbiyaa’ 21: 107] And He said what means, “So by mercy from Allaah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you.” [Aali ‘Imraan 3: 159]
Mistress ‘Aa`ishah narrated, may Allaah be pleased with her, regarding the mercy of the Prophet (Allaah’s blessings and peace be upon him) that: “Allaah’s Messenger (His blessings and peace be upon him) didn’t strike with his hand a servant or a woman.” [Ahmad]
The Prophet (Allaah’s blessings and peace be upon him) was kissing his son Ibraaheem upon his death and his eyes were pouring tears. So ‘AbdurRahmaan bin ‘Awf found this amazing and he asked, “Even you Messenger of Allaah?” The Prophet (Allaah’s blessings and peace be upon him) responded, “Ibn ‘Awf, certainly this is mercy! Verily, the eye sheds tears, and the heart is filled with sorrow, but we say only what pleases our Lord. Surely your parting Ibraaheem is one of those things which cause grief.” [Al-Bukhaaree]
He (Allaah’s blessings and peace be upon him) would enter Salaah, intending to lengthen it, and he would hear a child cry -- how quickly he would shorten it out of compassion and mercy for the child and their mother. He (Allaah’s blessings and peace be upon him) said, “Verily, I intend to enter the Salaah, desiring to lengthen it, until I hear the cry of a baby so I make it short because I know how severe the grief of its mother is due to its crying.” [Agree Upon]
Allaah’s Messenger (His blessings and peace be upon him) said, “You will never believe (truly) until you show mercy.” They replied, “O Allaah’s Messenger, all of us are merciful.” He said, “It most certainly is not the mercy one of you shows their companion, but its mercy for all humanity – a general mercy.” [At-Tabaraanee]
Here are some characteristics of mercy which came out of our true Deen, so you can distinguish by it the other religions and sects which say they have mercy; but compassion is weakened in them, and cruelty has abounded, and many examples of violence have been prepared, and they are controlled by materialism, and hearts have been hardened until they became like stones. “Then your hearts became hardened after that, being like stones or even harder.” [Al-Baqarah 2: 74] When you want to alert one to the need for mercy, people will inform you to answer, “This work.”
Aboo Hurayrah, may Allaah be pleased with him, said, “I said to Allaah’s Messenger (His blessings and peace be upon him), ‘Make supplication against the polytheists.’ He said, ‘Certainly, I wasn’t sent for cursing, but I was only sent for the purpose of mercy.’” [Muslim] So who will accept this mercy, and show gratefulness for this bounty and thereby be happy and blessed in this world and the next? And who will resist it and reject it thereby losing both this world and the next? In another hadeeth, “I am only a dedicated mercy.” [Ibn ‘Asaakir, raised to the Prophet by Aboo Hurayrah] So, whoever (truly) believes in Allaah and the Last Day mercy is written for them in this world and the next.
A man entered upon Allaah’s Messenger (His blessings and peace be upon him) and found him kissing the head of al-Hassan bin ‘Alee (may Allaah be pleased with them), and this amazed him. The man said (boasting), “Messenger of Allaah, I have ten sons and I’ve never kissed one of them.” Allaah’s Messenger (His blessings and peace be upon him) said, “Whoever doesn’t show mercy will not be shown mercy.” [Agreed Upon]
Al-Bukhaaree narrated to us that the Prophet told us the story of a man Allaah forgave because he gave drink to a dog out of sympathy. “One day a man was walking along a road and he became very tired and thirsty. Then he found a well and was able to get something to drink. When he came up out of the well he saw a dog panting and eating dirt out of his severe thirst. The man thinks to himself, this dog is suffering from thirst similar to what I was suffering. So, he climbs down into the well and fills his shoe with water. Then he holds it in his mouth so he can climb out, and then gives the dog water to drink. So Allaah was grateful for this, and He forgave the man (his sins).” The Companions asked, “Allaah’s Messenger, are we to find reward even in animals?” He replied, “In every living thing is reward!”
Allaah’s Messenger (His blessings and peace be upon him) said, “Show mercy to those on earth, so that you might receive it from those in heaven.” [At-Tabaraanee & al-Haakim]
The Muslim even has mercy on their selves, by protecting themselves from whatever would harm them in this world or the next. So, they make themselves distant from disobedience, and draw close to Allaah through His obedience. They don’t attempt to burden themselves with what they can’t bear. They stay far away from everything which would harm their bodies; like disease, smoking, drugs, intoxicants … and many others. The Muslim is merciful to animals, even towards all of creation.
O MUSLIMS!!!
The Prophet warned us against having a lack of compassion, and he promised those who didn’t show mercy to others that they would be in a miserable state. He said, “Mercy is not removed except from the miserable one.” [Aboo Daawood & at-Tirmithee] He also said, “Allaah will not show mercy to those who are unmerciful to humanity.” [Agreed Upon] The Prophet (Allaah’s blessings and peace be upon him) informed us about a woman who entered the Fire because of her lack of compassion for a cat. Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with them) said, “Allaah’s Messenger said, ‘A woman entered the Fire because of a cat. She caged it, and didn’t feed it or let it loose to eat of the vermin of the earth.’” [Agreed Upon] This woman surely had mercy removed from her heart, so she will be miserable because of her torturing this pour animal who had no way to defend itself.
Therefore, the Muslim should be the furthest from this lack of compassion. It’s is not from proper character to be able to look at someone/something hungry and not feed it (according to your means), or to see someone in need and not provide for them if you are able, or to see an orphan and not show sympathy to them. And we shouldn’t let it enter into the secret depths of our souls, because we know that it would lead us to misery and regret.
‘Abd bin Ja’far, may Allaah be please with him, narrated that the Prophet entered a garden of one of the Ansaar. There was a camel, who was crying and the Prophet came to it. He wiped its eyes and it calmed down. The Prophet asked, “Whose camel is this?” A young man from the Ansaar approached and said, “It’s mine.” The Prophet (Allaah’s blessings and peace be upon him) then said, “You should fear Allaah regarding this animal which He has placed you in charge of. Verily, it came to me and complained that you are abusing it.”