He is the Creator who desires mercy and goodness for all of creation, without discriminating between the good and the bad, the faithful and the rebellious, the beloved and the hated. He bestows infinite bounties upon all of His creation, and the proof of this can be found in the Qur'an where He says, "My Mercy encompasses everything" (Surah A'raf 156). Those who possess knowledge have interpreted the meaning of "Rahman" as the divine will towards total goodness, and they say that Rahman is a proper name of the Creator and cannot be attributed to anyone else. Allah Himself says in the Qur'an, "Say: Call upon Allah or call upon The Compassionate (ar-Rahman): by whatever name you call upon Him, to Him belong the most beautiful names" (Surah Isra' 110).
According to a hadith, the Messenger of Allah ï·º said, "Allah Most High has one hundred portions of mercy. He has sent only one portion upon the universe and divided it among all His creation. The feeling of mercy and compassion that His creatures feel among themselves is out of that share. The other ninety-nine portions He has saved for the Day of Judgment when He will bestow them upon the faithful."
The concept of mercy
begins with a sense of compassion and concern felt when one recognizes that
someone is in distress. This sense of pain moves us to help those who are
suffering, but true compassion is demonstrated when we are able to relieve
their pain and suffering. Allah is beyond all of these conditions, yet He chose
compassion over punishment even before He created anything. He created
everything with His mercy, including His supreme creation - humans, who are
pure and without defect. In His mercy, He has shown us the dangers of loss and
destruction, and He has given us the freedom to choose between good and bad. By
using our freedom to choose good for ourselves and for others, we can find the
light of Rahman within ourselves. We should feel empathy for those who have
gone astray or are unfortunate, not with condemnation, but with pity and
assistance, and find hope in Allah's promise that His compassion far surpasses
His wrath.
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