Mercy of Allah:
A lecture by Shaykh Zulfiqar Ahmad (db)

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Mercy in Creation

Hadith Qudsi says that Allah said, “I was a hidden treasure, and I wished that I be recognized, and this is why I created.” Hence the reason for creation was love (mohobbah). Allah created everything out of love, and therefore He loves what He has created. Subsequently He loves the believers even more intensely.

Hadith also says that Allah divided His Mercy into seventy parts, and distributed one of those parts in the creation around us. Let us think of all the love in this world; be it between a mother and child, a husband and wife, a brother and sister, be it between animals and their young, be it between friends. All the love amongst these people and in this world comprises just one part out of seventy of Allah’s Mercy. This brings to mind the question that what tremendous mercy might Allah show on the Day of Judgment?

A bird is a very weak little thing. It builds a nest for its young and leaves to get food. Now if the nest was in a house and the door is closed upon the bird’s return, this little bird will frantically search for some way to get to its nest, flapping its wings at one wall and then the next. She gets tired but keeps struggling to find a way to her young so she can feed them. If the door opens she flies hurriedly to feed her young, but if it remains shut then she will die flapping against the door, looking for some passage to her young. This bird is such a little thing but Allah has put such love inside it that she is willing to die but cannot tolerate her young going hungry.

A chicken is also a very delicate little creature, but it protects its young in its wings against a cat. It knows that it is no match for the cat, but the mother’s love inside this chicken compels it to stand up against the cat, because it knows that the cat will harm its children. Such is the love that Allah has put inside this chicken that it is prepared to give its life in defense of her children.

Only a mother can know and understand how much love Allah has put in her heart for her children. This love is a mountain and no one has been able to scale its heights; this love is an ocean and no one has been able to calculate its depths.

A mother loves her children unconditionally, with no display. A mother loves her child whether the child is obedient or disobedient, honorable or dishonorable. After Allah and His Messenger, only a mother can love even the disobedient. This world likes the successful and good, but hates those who are hateful and disrespectful and rejects them. However, a mother is a mother and loves her children no matter is they are obedient or disobedient, kind or unkind. A mother cannot be separated from her child.

A Woman’s Yearning

A woman’s greatest wish is to become a mother, because that is how Allah has made her. She gets worried if after marriage she somehow cannot have children, and prays day and night in every prayer and in tahajjud. When she goes for Umra and Hajj she will pray for children. She has such a yearning in her heart for motherhood that this becomes the first thing that she prays for and it starts to consume her. Allah might have given a big house and a successful husband who loves her, but something will be missing from her life and she will be sad. She will only have one wish despite all this, and that is the wish to become a mother.

This same woman’s life will be transformed if Allah blesses her with children. Her face will gleam and she will say that spring has come to her house. She spends all day running after this child and stays awake all night catering to this child’s needs. She stays sleepless and hungry for this child’s sake, but this struggle and hardship seem easy for her. Why? This is only because Allah has put the love of her children in her heart.

Now she forgets herself after begetting children. She goes to the market but does not look for adult clothes for herself, but searches for little clothes for her child and anything else she can decorate the nursery with. If she becomes tired, one look at her child relieves her of her fatigue; if she is worried, she hugs the child close to her and forgets all these worries, and thinks that she has gained all the happiness in the world.

She even forgets her relations, in that if her sister dislikes the child then she does not consider her a sister. Now the child becomes the purpose and focal point of her life. This child grows up and starts working, but the mother keeps worrying and stays up late waiting for him. The rest of the household sleeps but this mother stays awake waiting and worrying about whether the child has eaten or not.

If the child hurts the mother to such a degree that the mother says that she will never speak to him again, the child only has to come and beg forgiveness and the mother will immediately do so because she is a mother. If the mother has been hurt worse than this and says that she will not forgive him, then if the child falls to her feet she will immediately pardon him since a mother cannot bear to see her young son begging her thus. If the mother is hurt worse than this and is angrier still, vowing not to forgive him because he is so disobedient and hurtful, then he cries and begs for forgiveness. The mother’s heart melts because she cannot bear to see her child cry. Just a minute ago she was angry, vowing not to speak to her child, but now she wipes his tears with her own shawl forgetting how this child had hurt and angered her.

A mother loves her children so much that she cannot bear to see tears coming from their eyes. Allah loves His creation much more than a mother loves her children and cannot bear to see tears either. No matter how much someone has strayed from the right path, Allah will forgive this person if he begs for forgiveness with a sincere heart and vows to amend his ways. If an ashamed servant of Allah comes to Him asking for forgiveness with a true heart, Allah forgives him because of the tears that he sheds.

Examples of Mercy

Allah is extremely merciful. An idol worshipper used to worship an idol named Sanam. He sat up calling the name “Ya Sanam” all night, and towards the dawn he started getting drowsy and so he mistakenly took one of the Glorious Names of Allah, “Ya Samad.” Allah immediately turned His attention and asked, “What do you want My servant?” The angels said in astonishment, “O Allah, this is an idol worshipper and only took Your Name in forgetfulness.” Allah said, “This person calls on these idols all night and they don’t answer him. What difference is there between Me and the idols if I don’t answer him either?”

Allah wants us to seek forgiveness and come towards Him. Hadith says that the Messenger of Allah was traveling and stopped on the way at a village. A woman was cooking at a fire nearby and he noticed that she constantly had to push her child back who would come forward. She said to the Prophet, “I work with this fire all day, my son wants to play with it but I have to push him back all the time because I’m frightened for him. If Allah loves us more than we love our children, how can He put us in Hell?”

Hearing this the Messenger of Allah sat with his head bowed and his eyes filled with tears. He cried for some time and then said, “Allah does not want to send His creation into Hell, but it is man himself who buys Hell for himself through his disobedience to Allah. He forgets where he has come from and who his Caretaker is. He does not seek forgiveness from his Creator.”

The Merciful Creator

Allah is a Merciful God who wants to forgive us and His Mercy tries to find excuses for forgiving us. We must take advantage of the time that we have in this life and seek forgiveness and amend our ways. May Allah give us the ability to seek His forgiveness and amend our ways. Ameen