COMPASSION AND MERCY

Prepared By:
SABA RAMZAN
ID: 50773
OMPT(1st semester)
 Compassion really means sensitivity to others suffering.
 represents the true spirit of Islam,far more vital to Islamic
teachings than anything else.
 In fact compassion in Islam, after the concepts of unity of God
(tawhid) and risalah (messengership of Muhammad) is as
central to Islam.
 one of stressed words > Rahmah (compassion, mercy) in
the Holy Quran.
 Among Allah’s own names are Rahman and Rahim
(compassionate and Merciful).
 A Muslim begins everything by reciting Bi Ism-i- Allah al-
Rahman al-Rahim (i.e. begin in the name of Allah Who is
Compassionate and Merciful). Thus a Muslim is supposed to
invoke Allah the Compassionate and Merciful at every step.
 He sent His Messenger Muhammad also as the representative
of His Mercy and hence the Prophet himself is known as
rahmatan lil alamin (mercy of the worlds).
 Thus a true follower of the Prophet (PBUH) has to be merciful
and compassionate to the extent humanly possible.

 Anyone who is cruel and has no sensitivity towards sufferings

of others cannot be Prophet’s true follower in any sense.
 A person cannot be compassionate unless he/she is sensitive to
others suffering. And this suffering includes, as we will show,
not only human beings but also animals and plants.
 The Quran shows great compassion to orphans, the widows, the
poor and the slaves.
 Zakah, a toll tax, has been made obligatory on all believing
Muslims, men or women to help these sections. A believer who
is well off must be sensitive to the needs of these categories and
must help them financially to remove their sufferings on the
compassionate grounds. Thus even for the payment of zakat
compassion remains central.
 Compassion towards the poor is so important that the Prophet
used to say that
 even if one person remains hungry in a locality no angel will
descend in that locality until that hungry person is fed.
 Also, the Prophet is reported to have said that
 it is more meritorious to feed a hungry widow than to pray whole
night.
 It was his compassion for the weaker sections of society that
he not only got Bilal Habashi manumitted but gave him the
highest honor of giving azan i.e. calling the faithful to prayer
five times. This honor was denied even to his closest
colleagues who intensely desired it. If it was not compassion
for the weaker section what was it? It is this compassion
which is the most desirable aspect of Islamic teachings
 the entire creation all should be treated with compassion and sensitivity.
 The Prophet (PBUH) expanded the feeling of mercy and compassion in
the Muslim conscience to cover animals as well as humans.
 Bukhari and Muslim reported from Abu Hurayrah (RadiyAllahu Anhu)
that the Prophet (SallAllahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said:
 “A man was walking on the road when he felt very thirsty. He saw a
well, so he went down into it, drank his fill, then came out. He saw a
dog panting and biting the dust with thirst, and said, ‘This dog’s
thirst is as severe as mine was.’ So he went back down into the well,
filled his shoes with water, held them in his mouth (while he climbed
out), and gave the dog water. Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) thanked
him and forgave him.”
 They asked:
‘O Messenger of Allah (SallAllahu Alayhi Wa Sallam), will we be
rewarded for kindness towards animals?’
 He (SallAllahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said:
“In every living creature there is a reward.”
 Bukhari and Muslim also report from Ibn ‘Umar
(RadiyAllahu Anhu) that the Prophet (SallAllahu Alayhi Wa
Sallam) said:
 “A woman was punished because of a cat which she locked up until
it died of starvation. She was thrown into Hell. It was said — and
Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala) knows best — ‘You did not feed her or
give her water when you locked her up, neither did you let her roam
free so that she could eat of the vermin of the earth.”

 When compassion spreads upon earth, an abundance of divine

mercy descends upon the lands and its inhabitants from on high,
according to the words of the Prophet (SallAllahu Alayhi Wa
Sallam):
 “Have compassion on those who are on earth so that the One Who is
in heaven will have mercy on you.”
 Being merciful to the young: If a child commits a mistake,
elders should have mercy on them and compassionately guide
them.
 Sayyidunā Jābir bin ʿAbd Allah ‫ َرِض َى الـّٰل ـُه َع ـْنُه‬narrates the
following account from his childhood:
 When a sweet dish was gifted to the Messenger of Allah ‫َص َّل ى الـّٰل ـُه‬
‫ َع َلْيِه َو ٰا ِلٖه َو َسَّل م‬, he shared it with us. When it was my turn, he fed me
once and said, “Shall I feed you more?” “Yes please,” I replied. He
gave me more due to my young age. After that, he continued to share
it with the rest of the attendees.
 When the Messenger of Allah ‫ َص َّلى الـّٰل ـُه َع َلْيِه َو ٰا ِلٖه َو َس َّلم‬would return
from a journey and would meet children from his household, he
would seat them with himself on his ride. Regarding those who
would remain, he would say to his Companions ‫ َع ـَلْيِهُم الِّر ْض َو اْن‬, “Sit
them on your rides.”
 Prophet (PBUH) was the embodiment of this virtue, so much so that
 when he led the prayer, if he heard a child crying, he would be
filled with mercy and compassion for the mother who would be
distressed by her child’s crying. So he would shorten the prayer,
 as was reported by Bukhari and Muslim from Anas (RadiyAllahu
Anhu):The Prophet (SallAllahu Alayhi Wa Sallam) said:
 “I commenced the prayer, and I intended to make it long, but I heard
a child crying, so I cut my prayer short because of the distress I
knew his mother would be feeling.”
 “Respect elders and have mercy upon the young. You and I will be
together ˹on the Day of Judgement˺ like these ˹two fingers˺.” He
then joined his blessed fingers together to signify this.
 wretched is one who is proud of his condition, most greedy, who
sells his religion for someone else’s worldly gain.
 the Quran favors the mustadifin (the weaker sections) to the
mustakbirin (those powerful and arrogant).
 The powerful and the arrogant people are insensitive to others
suffering and want to grab as much as they can – be it wealth, be
it territory or be it symbols of power. In the Quranic approach,
the powerful are most insensitive and hence most un-
compassionate.
 They are overpowered by the greed and hence can never
understand others needs. Therefore, the Quran says that “And
those who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in Allah’s
way – announce to them a painful chastisement.”

 Allah loves and showers His Mercy equally on all. And if we
are really worshippers of Allah we too should not make such
distinctions.
 our respect for others and our compassion should not be
meant for a limited number of groups. It should be as wide in
a sweep as possible.
 When the Quran refers to weaker sections (mustaifun) it does
not qualify it with Muslim. It uses mustadifun as inclusive of
all human beings. And all of them are equally entitled to our
compassion and Allah’s mercy, no less, no more. Similarly,
the Quran does not use any qualification for the powerful and
arrogant mustakbirun. They can belong to any religion, race or
ethnicity.
References:
 islamicity.org/8398/the-concept-of-compassion-in-islam/
 https://
www.dawateislami.net/magazine/en/our-prophet-the-most-sublime-the-most
-great/mercy-and-compassion
 https://www.dawateislami.net/magazine/en/hadees-with-explanation/he-is-
not-from-us