Muhammad- Mercy to the World

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recently, I was asked in an interfaith event at one of the local colleges.

There was a rabbi, a Catholic priest, a Protestant minister, and myself.

Each of us shared our personal stories about becoming people of faith. And then we took questions from the students, each of us would respond one at a time, so that the students could see how one idea or how one practice looked across different faiths.

One student asked about the afterlife. What was it like in your tradition?

When it was my turn, I offered the Islamic perspective of the afterlife. Based on our sacred and authentic revelation, I tried to be as straightforward and faithful to our tradition as possible. Allah azza wa jal created us in the first place. Allah subhanho wa Taala will cause us to die. We will await resurrection as souls in our graves until a lot of our

other resurrects our bodies and souls brings them up out of the earth for the reckoning.

Those who are sincere in this life and they acted on that sincerity, little read from their own book of deeds and they will be rewarded with eternal life and eternal happiness.

Those who are not sincere

and deny the truth of the last sign that they knew and recognized, they will read from their book of deeds, they will get what is coming to them. Many, if not all of them, will enter Hellfire eternally. This is a very standard Islamic belief very uncontroversial stuff, someone at the event that they took issue

with that account of the afterlife, and they pointed out,

isn't there a fundamental tension? Isn't there a contradiction between believing and eternal punishment and believing in a merciful God?

It was as if to say and this is a common doubt these days even for Muslims. If Allah subhanho wa Taala is so merciful. Why does he punish some people forever?

They might think that that's not fair. They might think that that's not very merciful at all.

If Allah were really merciful, wouldn't he forgive everyone, at some point?

As we enter the month of where we are,

and remember the birth of the final messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, our thoughts are drawn to Mercy. Because the prophets of Allah, Allah He was, was nothing but mercy. Allah azza wa jal said, it's always going to be out of our mouths, so NACA in a lot of my time.

We have not sent you Oh, prophets, except as a mercy to all of creation. Now, if you go tell this to many people on the street, who are not Muslims, they might laugh at you.

A mercy. Really? What about all of the battles? What about the killing and the conquests?

These people don't think of mercy when they think of the Prophet will happen. So a lot of a sudden,

they think of some sort of warlord, some sort of barbarian, the assumption seems to be that a real prophet of Mercy would have forgiven everyone.

That a real prophet of Mercy would have never picked up a sword in the first place, that a real prophet of Mercy would have just let himself become martyred.

And that's how I was thinking about these things, how some people view the prophets of Allah as how some people don't find the idea of eternal punishment to be merciful. Something occurred to me.

Those who doubt Allah's mercy, or they doubt the mercy of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam

or they vowed eternal punishment because they see it as not particularly merciful.

They all assume that their understanding of mercy is correct. And so the question Allah some kind of hotel either they question the prophets of Allah, Allah He was they just

I should Allah and the prophets of Allah Almighty He was so against their own understanding of mercy, none of them ever once thought, to question themselves, and to question their understanding of mercy.

Many of them never even thought to explore what mercy means, in the first place.

Many people when they think of mercy, they think more or less about being nice, being kind to other people, especially if those people are in a difficult situation, to be merciful is to smile at someone of lower status than yourself, to help someone in need to be gentle towards others.

Now, there's no doubt that the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam fits this description,

even beyond his actions, beyond how he treated other people, which we will get to show the prophets on the long body he was salam was a mercy in ways that he could not even control

he was a mercy on the senses. He was a mercy on the eyes. He was a mercy of the ears a mercy even on the nose, just experiencing him. Some of the law it was

even before he did anything, was mercy from the harshness of this dunya robots Emilio Bihari the NSA man I laugh a lot, maybe Illa customer, which customer so what can I be looking at sentiment watching what axon Selter and it's really a loved one who said that the last kind of go to audit never sent profits, except that they had a pleasant face and a pleasant voice and your profits will have been somewhat low while he has the most pleasant face and the most pleasant voice of the mall. The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was pleasant to look at, partly because he was always smiling, followed the Lord and had the presence of the Lord until now the way to add an extra

water vessel man mean Rasulullah sallallahu proactivity I'm doubling the character the Patrick said I never saw anyone smile more than the Prophet Mohammed. So the law as of

the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa salam was also pleasant to listen to

Robert, because it may have easily been wrong on the alarm or another caller so near to the VDSL Allah morning he was Sunday when the team he was say to sort of team dinner a shy one message so I had an accent so 10 meaningful, Oh, get off.

And then the Lord said I heard the prophets of Allah Allah He was salam recite Surah to the team for the a shot prayer and I never heard anyone with a better voice, or a better recitation than him. So are they

the prophets of Allah My name is Adam was even soft to the touch.

Call.

Man assess to hurry about quality badge and earlier, we calculate the meanings of things. What actually meant to read and not our butts up to win rate we go out Have a nice day.

And it said I never touched to sell nor blockade softer than the palm on the profits on the low body he was on them. And I never smelled a sentence or a fragrance more fine than the sense of the Prophet. So look like

the companions said that the the prophets of Allah he was some smelled so good that you could tell where he had been from the pleasant sense that he would leave behind

the gentleness, the softness, the pleasantness, it was all woven into his own body into his own cells. That very way almost upon with Allah created him.

And that pleasantness and that softness, and that gentleness was only amplified by his actions. So I have a long way to sort of remember the story he told me back in February, about that my dad in the US will

remember that he was poor and hungry, and he was staying with the Prophets all along while he was Sunday.

And each of them they had a bowl of milk or a bowl of yogurt every day and that's all that they would have. And one night the devil got the better of that.

after he started to think,

tonight the prophets of Allah wa ala Salam has been invited to somebody else's house. He probably is eating there. He won't miss it if I drink his bowl of yogurt.

And so I left I drank both his bowl and the Prophet's bowl. And as soon as he did, he regretted it.

He wasn't sure what was going to happen. Was he going to get punished? Were verses of the Koran going to come down to condemn him.

And as we all know, when we're waiting for something bad to happen, the minutes turn in two hours. And so that dad is laying on the floor. And it's dark, it's nighttime, and he's covering himself with his blanket, but he can't sleep.

And he's waiting for the prophets of Allah audit in the midst of them to come back.

And sure enough, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam comes back and he looks at his bowl and his bowl is empty.

And he drops to his knees and he begins to make sure that he says, he speaks he's finished. This is it. He's trying to make you're out against me and I will be struck dead.

But one of the prophets of the love body was something really sad.

He asked the last panel was audits to feed the person who feeds him,

and to give to drink the one who gives him to drink. And so even though as my dad had been pretending to sleep just a second ago, he threw off the blanket, he rushed out of the house and he grabs the, the closest chief he can find and notice it turns into the prophets of Allah, Allah He was son of Israel drink, forces him to drink until he's certain that he's the one that got the dua of the prophets of Allah white English. He falls down laughing.

The prophets of Allah Lisa was very confused. What's going on with that? And it was Dad told him everything from the beginning, how he had Trump his yogurt, how he was afraid and then how he heard the divine of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam and the prophets of Allah wa ala

was nothing but mercy. There was no blame. There was no lecture, he left. So the law it was

and they enjoyed everything together. There was another time and this is a more famous story. When a man came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam during Ramadan.

And this man was very upset.

He told the prophets of Allah why he was taller, I am dumb for That's it, I'm ruined.

And he told the prophets of Allah Allah He was said on what he had done. He had broken his fast during the middle of the day with his spouse, he had done the unthinkable.

Imagine the shame that he must have felt, imagine how hard it is for us to admit when we're wrong and when we made a mistake.

Imagine how much harder it would be to admit it to the prophets of Allah Allah He was.

He was probably afraid that Allah subhanho wa Taala would strike him dead on the spot, or send down verses of the Quran to condemn him.

But none of that happened.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam simply told him how to make up for his sin. He went one by one through the process of cafardo.

Are you able to free a slave? Ask the prophets of Allah Abelson? No. Set the man are you able to fast for 60 days in a row asks the prophets of Allah My name is

no not set the man are you able to feed 60 Poor people

ask the prophets all along why he was seven? No, I don't have any food to himself the man.

So they sat and they waited. There was no lecture. There was no blame. There was no finger wagging you should have done this. You should have done that. He just sat and waited. Eventually someone came and brought the Prophet Sall Allahu alayhi, wa salam, some dates and the prophets of Allah alayhi wa salam took those dates and gave them to the man and said Here, take this, go ahead and give this as charity and your sin will be forgiven.

The man had said to the prophets of Allah, Allah, He will send them your aid isn't anyone in this entire city? Who's poor than me and my family? So what did the prophets of Allah do?

He laughed.

He laughed some of our body he was somebody that was beautiful and subtle plan and send to the man go ahead and take them and feed your family.

There was no finger wagging. There was no guilt trip. The Prophet SAW

Allahu alayhi wa sallam did not interrogate the man. Are you really that poor? Are you sure you can't fast?

He was lenient. He was gentle. And he was above all else. Merciful. Apollo for me was tough Allah honey, whatever. But he said he was giving me the stuff in the middle of a Ford rocking

have to be logged out at SF shook Allah, Allah to feed the will Tina. What's

the law? Washington will actually connect with the militia? What should be and then we'll see that then we'll hammer then after Google sort of went there. Yeah, that one. So the one he wanted, that he was having he was wanting a Sunday to Stephen's Cathedral.

So if we know these things about the Prophet Mohammed, so

how do we explain the conquests? How do we explain the warfare? How is mercy compatible with these things?

I believe the answer can be found in two Hadith.

The first is a parable from the prophets of Allah while he was on Jaffe in the

wild forever.

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said that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, our situation

is like a man who has started a fire. And as soon as soon as he started a fire, the loss and the insects swarmed around that fire trying to throw themselves inside the fire.

I'm the one holding the ball back from that fire. And you all are trying to escape my grasp.

Through this parable, the prophets of Allah Wadi he was someone shows the purity of his sincerity.

He wants nothing from us, but our own guidance and success in the afterlife. Through the power of evil, he also shows how there will be people who struggle against him, even if it's for their own harm.

They will try to resist Him and if they succeed and resisting the prophets of Allah,

they will throw themselves into the fire. At first,

the profits a little low body who is holding them back with the firm grip. Yes, it takes firmness, but holding them back from their own destruction.

Is this not mercy?

is mercy just doing what others wants you to do for them?

Or is mercy also sometimes doing what's best for someone even if they dislike it?

Because mercy and Rama in Arabic comes from the same root word as the mother's womb.

And the mother's womb provides everything that the growing baby could possibly need. It provides nourishment, it provides warmth, but it also provides limits and boundaries.

The mother continues to perform the duties of the womb after the child is born caring for the children providing for their every need. That includes affection that includes compassion and love.

And sometimes it includes consequences.

Is it merciful for a mother to let her children do whatever they want?

Is it merciful to let them eat whatever they want or to sleep whenever they want or to put themselves in danger?

Or does mercy sometimes require you to challenge your child to be better

to set certain expectations for them to hold your children accountable for their actions? Mercy is not just be nice. And it's not just letting everyone have what they want. Mercy is giving people what's best for them. Even if they don't want

lives for themselves. If the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had given everyone what they wanted, there would be no Islam.

But he was more merciful than that.

He saw the fire that they were heading towards, and he did everything in his power to hold them back from that fire.

The second Paddy is from Aisha

radi, Alana.

She said Now what about Rasul Allah he's about right in the center chain and potbelly Walla Walla Hardyman in New Jersey, the fees Videla

woman need to shave on tops, fee and tactical Mints are heavily ill and you will check it off chain code in the hat mean no harm in that. They attack him on in the heat from the Muslim,

the prophets of Allah while he was never one struck anybody with his hand,

not a woman,

not a child, not assertiveness.

The only time he would strike anybody was on the battlefield, fighting the enemy.

And the prophets of Allah Allah He never wants to prevent for his own self for his own sake.

But if someone violated something that Allah had made sacred

than the prophets of Allah or even send them or take revenge for Allah Subhana Allah to Allah

is the prophets of Allah, how do you get a son of a hypocrite?

Is he inconsistent, is he merciful at home, and then once he goes to the battlefield, he's cruel.

Or perhaps it's us that have not understood that there is mercy in striking the enemy on the battlefield, there is mercy and avenging the rights of Allah subhanho wa Taala either

that enemy on the battlefield that wants to extinguish the worship of Allah, the enemy that wants to go back to burying daughters alive, the enemy that wants to go back to treating women like slaves, and slaves like animals and animals cruelly.

To not challenge such evil people is a mercy for who

to let such people run society is a mercy for who

to give such people the same reward in the afterlife as the believers and the people of faith is a mercy for who

as the loss of half dollar says, While Lola did a walk in NASA data from the doubting hope demands so you won't be

on my side you use comfy husband while he can heal

and word have nots that a loss of Hannah electronic checks to people, some by means or others, there would have been no monasteries, there would have been no churches, there would have been no mosques, they would all be destroyed.

And the last Panem was ALLAH will certainly support those who support him. You need a loss of time with Allah as powerful and Exalted in Might, mercy and justice are not in competition with one another. They are one in the same thing, because there's a certain point where so called Mercy for the tyrants is injustice. And injustice means cruelty to the weak, and the vulnerable. Whereas justice for the Tyrant is mercy for the whole world for the people and for the animals for the plants and the mountains and the rivers and the oceans as Allah subhanaw taala says about

that cantata, he was so mad.

So neither the heavens nor the earth when it's for them,

are you more merciful than the heavens and the earth?

Are you more merciful than the prophets of Allah while he was on a cruise? Are you more merciful than Allah? is an agenda?

Or are you completely misunderstanding the meaning of Mercy?

Mercy, true mercy implies the power to punish the power to hold others accountable. It actually describes the reluctance to exercise that power, unless it's absolutely necessary, but everything has its limits. There must be situations where it is absolutely necessary to defend absolutely necessary to punish and in the case of Allah subhanaw taala absolutely necessary.

punished forever.

And if someone tries to claim that there is never any circumstance in which it is necessary to defend or necessary to punish or necessary to punish even forever, even if they call it mercy,

you should know that this is not nursing, but rather, it is cowardice.