Ar-Rahman

Ar-Rahman. The Most Merciful. I had been reading about this trait of Allah, using it in my prayers and reciting it before starting any task in the form of ‘بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم (Begin with the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most gracious)’ ever since I came to my senses but I never actually pondered over it until recently. This trait makes our Lord most merciful of the merciful which means that if we combine the mercy possessed by all the merciful beings on the face of earth even that will not be comparable with the mercy of Allah.

“Allah divided Mercy into one-hundred parts and kept ninety-nine parts of it with Him and sent down one part on earth. And because of that, its one single part, His creations are Merciful to each other, so that even the mare lifts up its hoofs away from its baby animal, lest it should trample on it.” [Sahih Bukhari]

This trait of Allah has been emphasized again and again by Allah Himself in the Quran. This is the very trait that got to be a part of the most frequently recited sentence ‘بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم (Begin with the name of Allah, the most merciful, the most gracious)’. This is the trait that precedes other ninety eight traits of Allah when we read the names and attributes of Allah. Moreover, we come to know by Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) that Allah declares that His mercy prevails His wrath.

“When Allah decreed the creation, he wrote in his book with him on his throne: My mercy prevails over my wrath.” [Sahih Muslim]

These are the few points that can help us internalize the importance of this trait of Allah and that how much this trait has been emphasized by Allah Himself and by Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him). But this is all about reading and studying about this attribute of Allah. We see but overlook countless examples of Allah’s mercy in our day to day lives. With the exception of very few, most of us are extremely disobedient and ungrateful to Allah but despite that fact He does not punish us for our disobedience and ungratefulness right away. He gives us lots of leverage. He overlooks many of our mistakes, those we make knowingly and those we make unknowingly. Despite the fact that He is our master and we are merely His slaves and that He owes us nothing and we owe Him absolutely everything, He waits for us to turn to Him and repent. He literally looks forward to us to turn to Him so that He can forgive us. When we turn back to Him He reaches out for us without the delay of even a fraction of second. No matter at what point in time you turn to Him, His door is always open for you. If you walk towards Him, He will come running towards you.

“Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, said: I live in the thought of My servant and I am with him as he remembers Me. (The Holy Prophet) further said: By Allah, Allah is more pleased with the repentance of His servant than what one of you would do on finding the lost camel in the waterless desert. When he draws near Me by the span of his hand. I draw near him by the length of a cubit and when he draws near Me by the length of a cubit. I draw near him by the length of a fathom and when he draws near Me walking I draw close to him hurriedly.” [Sahih Muslim]

If somebody hurts us, breaks our heart or disappoints us then are we usually willing to give them a second chance? If we truly love them even then after a couple of chances we will surely give up on them if they keep making the same mistake again and again because we cannot stand being turned down or being hurt again and again. But look at Allah’s mercy, see how much He loves you that no matter how many times you mess up, fail and disappoint Him He will never run out of second chances for you! That is Allah, Ar-Rahman! He never gives up on His constantly and consistently failing and disobedient slaves.

“Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, says, ‘O son of Adam, as long as you call on Me, I shall forgive you of what you have done, and think nothing of it. O son of Adam, even if your sins were to reach up to the clouds in the sky, and then you were to ask for My forgiveness, I would forgive you and think nothing of it. O son of Adam, even if you were to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth, and then you were to meet Me after death, not worshipping anything besides Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as the earth.’” [Tirmidhi]

“Whoever repents after his crime and does righteous good deeds (by obeying Allah), then verily, Allah will pardon him. Verily, Allah is Oft­ Forgiving, Most Merciful."[Al-Quran 5:39]

Despite the fact that He owes us nothing yet showers us with countless blessings, we take many of His blessings and gifts for granted. We constantly and consistently disobey Him, disappoint Him, keep whining and complaining and are ungrateful to Him. In addition to that, despite His countless favors and boundless mercy we do not bother to even take out some time for Him, to remember Him, talk to Him and connect with Him. Despite of all this, He never leaves us on our own. He still provides for us, looks after us and takes care of us even while we are in the state of disobedience!  While we are in the middle of disappointing Him! Not only that He fulfils our needs but He also showers us with countless blessings and gifts when He is our master. But He is not an ordinary master. He is not an ordinary rabb. He is rabb-e-kareem (extremely generous master)!