Episode 13 - The Merciful Will Be Shown Mercy by the Most Merciful
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The Mercy of Allah is the Greatest Source of Joy
In the midst of suffering, your love for your Creator and Lord increases. This is the mercy of Allah. Let us contemplate the beauty of this mercy so that we may long for it and know how to attain it.
The mercy of Allah is the greatest source of joy. Allah commanded us to rejoice in it, saying: "Say, 'In the bounty of Allah and in His mercy - in that let them rejoice.' It is better than what they amass." (Yusuf 10:58) This is a style of restriction, for it is the first thing to rejoice in, because this mercy is the true source of joy that never runs dry nor is affected by circumstances, more so than the fleeting pleasures of this world.
The exegetes have known this favor and mercy to be faith and the Quran. These are sources of joy that you carry in your heart in times of ease and hardship, in difficulty and comfort: your faith in Allah, your contemplation of His names and attributes, your longing to meet Him, your reassurance of His companionship, and your anticipation of His honor. "In that let them rejoice. It is better than what they amass."
Can anyone withhold this mercy or prevent it from reaching a servant of Allah? No, by Allah. The Most Merciful, the Merciful, exalted be He, said: "Whatever mercy Allah opens up for the people, none can withhold it." (Yusuf 10:57)
Sayyid Qutb, may Allah have mercy on him, has beautiful contemplations on this verse: "Whatever mercy Allah opens up for the people, none can withhold it." The beauty is that he wrote it while suffering from illness and long imprisonment in difficult circumstances before he was executed, for he was calling for the oneness of Allah's sovereignty.
He said, may Allah have mercy on him: "When this verse settles in the heart, it brings about a fundamental transformation in a person's feelings and scales, making him despair of any mercy on earth and attaching him to the mercy of Allah. That mercy which the believer's heart feels in every situation, even if he has lost everything. For whom Allah has bestowed this mercy, he sleeps on thorns and finds it a soft bed, while he who has lost this mercy sleeps on silk and finds it thorns."
It is as if Allah, exalted be He, said in the same verse: "And none can withhold it," meaning from mercy, "nor can anyone send it back after it has been given." Or despair of it or doubt it, and this is a punishment that Allah never inflicts upon a believer. "And none despairs of the mercy of Allah except the disbelievers." (Yusuf 12:87)
Therefore, when you feel the mercy of Allah and hope for the mercy of Allah and await the mercy of Allah, exalted be He, and expect it, then this is from the mercy of Allah, exalted be He.
The Mercy of Allah Does Not Fail a Seeker
Then he said: "And the mercy of Allah does not fail a seeker in any place or any condition." Ibrahim, peace be upon him, found it in the fire, and Yusuf, peace be upon him, found it in the well and in prison, and Yunus, peace be upon him, found it in the belly of the whale in three darknesses, and Musa, peace be upon him, found it in the river as a child stripped of all strength and all protection, and he found it in the palace of Pharaoh while he was an enemy lying in wait for him and seeking him.
And the companions of the cave found it in the cave when they missed it in the palaces and the mansions, so they said to one another: "Seek refuge in the cave; perhaps your Lord will spread for you of His mercy." (Kahf 18:10) And the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and his companion found it in the cave while the people were tracking them and cutting off their traces. And everyone who took refuge in it found it, despairing of all else.
What tranquility, what decision, what clarity in concepts, feelings, values, and scales does this verse establish in the conscience? A single verse that draws a new picture of life and establishes in the feeling values for this life that are fixed and scales that do not shake or waver or are affected by all influences.
Therefore, my brother, whatever your trial, await the mercy of Allah and hope for the mercy of Allah and expect the mercy of Allah, and Allah, exalted be He, will have mercy on you.
The Experience of Sayyid Qutb with the Mercy of Allah
Then Sayyid Qutb said - and here I quote his words briefly -: "And it remains that I turn to Allah with praise for His special mercy that I have known from Him in this verse. This verse confronted me at this moment while I was in distress, effort, difficulty, and hardship. It confronted me in a moment of spiritual dryness, personal misery, and distress from distress and hardship from hardship. And Allah made it easy for me to understand its reality from this verse and to pour its reality into my soul as if it were a nectar that I taste and feel its flow and its sweetness in my being, a reality that I savored and it was mercy in itself. And I had read it before many times and passed by it many times, but the moment pours its nectar and realizes its meaning and descends with its pure reality and says: Here I am."
An example of the mercy of Allah when He opens it, so look how it is. Nothing around him had changed - he said he was in prison - nothing around him had changed, but everything in his perception had changed. It is a great blessing that the heart opens to a great truth of this existence, like the great truth contained in this verse: "Whatever mercy Allah opens up for the people, none can withhold it."
A blessing that man tastes and lives, but he rarely can depict it or convey it to others through writing. And I have lived it and tasted it and known it, and all this happened in the most severe moments of distress and dryness that have passed in my life. And here I am finding relief, joy, water, and liberation from every shackle and every affliction and every distress while I am in my place. It is the mercy of Allah that Allah opens its door and pours its bounty in a verse of His verses. End of his speech, may Allah have mercy on him.
Very beautiful words from a man who suddenly felt the mercy of Allah, which made him disregard the world entirely and lightened all his burdens for him.
Brothers, in ordinary situations, when you feel joy, you may attribute this joy to material causes: your health, your wealth, your status, your wife, your children, the food and drink you enjoy. But when you are in severe trial and lose much of the material causes and yet suddenly feel joy, then you realize that this joy is none other than from the mercy of Allah and by the mercy of Allah. An oasis you find in the desert of hardship, this mercy, brothers, this is the mercy of Allah, exalted be He. I hope that you have longed for it.
How Do We Attain the Mercy of Allah?
So, what do we do to attain it? It's simple. My Lord, exalted be He, said: "Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good." (A'raf 7:56) Be one of the doers of good.
One of us usually, when faced with a problem, becomes preoccupied with himself and the problem and how to get rid of it, and laments what has passed and fears the future. In these critical moments, we forget to be among the doers of good to deserve the mercy of Allah, to deserve the mercy of Allah, exalted be He. "Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good."
Show mercy. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "The merciful will be shown mercy by the Most Merciful. Show mercy to those on the earth, and those in the heaven will show mercy to you."
Stories from Real Life
One of my brothers was with me in captivity. I lived with him for several months. This brother was accustomed to doing good and living for people, easing their burdens. He was known for this in his area. During captivity, he got to know a young man who had killed someone and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Then, this killer repented and reformed in prison, so he was moved to the Islamic cases wing.
The merciful brother got to know him through the walls; he did not meet him nor saw his face, but he knew that the killer could be released if the victim's family reconciled with him for a sum of money. So, our brother started coordinating with the young man's wife and brothers to gather the money to ease his burden. Prison did not distract him from doing good; rather, he sought to ease the burdens of his brothers while he was a captive. He would instruct from captivity to give money from his money to widows and the needy. A person like this feels the mercy of Allah, the Almighty, wherever he is and in any condition. For the merciful, the Most Merciful has mercy.
Another brother had suffered in prison for eight years and went through extremely difficult circumstances, and he is still in captivity. May Allah ease his burden and the burden of the families of the Muslims. However, he was merciful to his brothers. Once, I fell ill during captivity, and he placed my head on his lap, recited the Quran to me, and his eyes were filled with tears from the tenderness of his heart. This brother is the same one who would say to me, "I want you to enjoy the blessing of affliction with contentment and tranquility." For the merciful, the Most Merciful has mercy.
Some of the brothers in captivity had difficult financial circumstances, so they would express their mercy by putting pieces of the food provided to us in the pockets of their clothes and throwing them to the stray cat passing by above the prison room's netting.
Do you want the mercy of Allah that no one from the jinn or mankind can hold back? Do you want the mercy of Allah with which there is true happiness? Train yourself to be merciful and do good in all circumstances. Have you not seen that Allah, the Most High, praised those who prefer their brothers despite their poverty, saying about the Ansar: "And they give them preference over themselves, even though they are in need." They suffer from the affliction of poverty, and yet they do good.
Have you not seen the saying of the Prophet, peace be upon him: "Whoever eases the hardship of a needy person, Allah will ease his hardship in this world and the Hereafter. Whoever conceals the fault of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his fault in this world and the Hereafter. And Allah is with the helper as long as the helper is with his brother."
Conclusion of the episode: Be merciful to those on earth, and the One in the heaven will have mercy on you. And then, "Whatever mercy Allah opens for the people, none can withhold it." And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah.