LOVE & MERCY: God's Gift To Mankind.

 

Love & Mercy:

God's Gift To Mankind

We need compassion

and tolerance to live

peacefully on earth

 

(M. Javed Naseem)

“And you (O Muhammad) are on

an exalted standard of character!”

(al-Quran 68:4)

Love is an ocean with no limits and if you drown in it, you’ll live forever – in the hearts of others whom you loved. You can’t see love, just like you can’t see Allah. But you can feel love the same way you can feel Allah's presence and creation everywhere. Allah is infinite Love and Mercy. And if you have these virtues in your character, you are blessed because they come from Him. It also means that you are connected with the Infinite. You are really blessed!

*****************************

If you are not merciful to others,

you will not be treated mercifully!

*****************************

Allah the Almighty is our creator and we are His children. He is like a father to us but He loves us almost 100 times more than a mother. He is full of compassion and mercy for us. His mercy encompasses the entire universe. Being His creation, we inherit compassion, love and mercy. But sometimes we lose those qualities because we get a bit unreasonable in our anger or rage or greed.

Love and mercy originate from Allah. We, being His creation, need love and mercy not only from Him but also from the fellow human beings. This is something that binds us together. Our children also need love, affection and special attention – actually more than the adults. We are like the leaves and branches of the 'Love Tree' that holds us together.

Long time ago, I read a beautiful story about a child's love for her parents. A man once saw his 3-year old daughter trying to gift-wrap a small box with golden foil. He saw the child trying again and again, wasting a lot of foil as she was trying to wrap up the box but could not handle it perfectly. The man was not happy with what he saw and he reprimanded his daughter angrily for wasting foil. Money was tight and times were tough. It was the month of Ramadan and the 3-year old was probably preparing some Eid gifts for her friends. Eventually, the little girl finished packing. The next day she brought the gift to her father and said,

‘This is for you, Daddy. Happy Eid Mubarak!’

The man was embarrassed by his earlier over-reaction when he snubbed the little girl. He felt ashamed but put a smile on his face and hugged the girl thanking her for the gift. But the moment he opened the box he got mad with anger again. The box was empty.

“What the hell…..?”, he screamed at the girl. “Don’t you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside the box? How could you…..?”

The little girl looked at him with tears in her eyes and said, “But Daddy, it is not empty at all. I blew one hundred kisses into the box. They are all for you, Daddy!”

The father was devastated. Tears started running on his cheeks. He put his arms around his little girl, hugged her and begged for her forgiveness. He regretted that every time he got mad and said or did something unpleasant to hurt the child's feelings; while the child was doing innocently whatever she thought was good to please her father.

Now, here’s message for you! If you are short-tempered and get upset over every little thing, you'll be regretting a lot in your daily life. Friends and family members would always try to avoid you. Don’t make any decisions while you are mad or upset. An angry mind cannot think straight and positive. Angry people lack tolerance and want to punish others for their smallest fault or lapse while, at the same time, ignoring their own faults and lapses.

A wise man once said: “The strong is not the one who overcomes the people by his strength, but the one who controls himself while in anger.”

The Prophet (s.a.w.) has also been reported to have said: 'The best among you is the one who has the best manners (conduct).' Good conduct or manners are the most important quality of a Muslim. Allah the Almighty has declared in the Holy Quran that the Prophet (s.a.w.) had the best manners (conduct). Therefore, he was the best role-model not only for Muslims but for the entire mankind.

“You have indeed in the Messenger of Allah

a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one

whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and

who engages much in the Praise of Allah.”

(al-Quran 33:21)

Now, getting back to the story! Only a short time later, an accident took the life of the child. Her father was devastated. He kept the gift box by his bed for many years and whenever he was down, discouraged or demoralized, he would take out one imaginary kiss from the box and remember the love of the child who had put the kisses there. That box was a great source of consolation.

With our compassion, empathy, love and tolerance, we become a source of inspiration, a source of encouragement and a source of consolation for other human beings who sometimes feel broken, down and frustrated. And sometimes we also become a test of tolerance and patience for others or others become the same test for us. That’s how Allah the Almighty created us. We are social animals and prefer to live in communities or tribes. And with that choice also come the bad things along with the good things in life. We need to show our character to keep the balance and get along with others amicably.

“We made some of you a means

to test each by the other to see

whether you remain patient.

Your Lord is All-Seeing.”

(al-Quran 25:20)

We need love to survive, and for that purpose we need each other too. We are social beings and prefer to live in community or groups. Each one of us has been given a gift box filled with unconditional love and countless kisses from our children, family members, friends and neighbors. There is simply no other possession that anyone could hold dearer or more precious than that. It's a real treasure. Do we appreciate and give thanks to the Almighty for that?

“Lo, your Lord is full of bounty for mankind,

but most of them do not give thanks.”

(al-Quran 27:73)

**************