Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: (The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy)
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Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: (The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy)]
Allah the Exalted said: [Surat al-Fatihah: 3] This is an attribute of the Glorious Name, which is called by grammarians the description. (The Most Merciful) means: the One possessing the vast mercy that encompasses everything.As Allah the Exalted said: [Al-A'raf: 156] And this general mercy includes even the disbeliever, for he lives by the mercy of Allah. Were it not that Allah shows him mercy, he would find no food, no drink, no clothing, and no shelter. However, he lives by the mercy of Allah in these things, but it is a mercy that does not benefit him in the Hereafter; for it is a mercy limited to this world only.
(The Bestower of Mercy) means: the One possessing the special mercy that reaches the one who is shown mercy, and this is for the believers only;because of the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Ahzab: 43] For this reason, some scholars said: The Most Merciful is general, and the Bestower of Mercy is specific. And in mentioning (The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy) after He said: (Lord of all the worlds) is evidence that this lordship is a lordship of mercy, not a lordship of retribution or anger; rather, it is a lordship of mercy, and everything that comes from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is mercy, even the calamities that befall people are in reality mercy. How is it mercy? Is illness mercy? Yes, it is mercy.But one does not know that it is mercy except one who reflects and contemplates: [Al-'Ankabut: 43] Illness, for the believer, is a means by which Allah expiates his sins. (No harm or grief or pain befalls a believer except that Allah expiates his sins thereby) And this is mercy, because what befalls you in this world is transient and does not remain; it must cease, for the permanence of a state is impossible. It is mentioned that one of the female worshippers was afflicted in her finger and that she was not affected,And she said: (The sweetness of its reward made me forget the bitterness of its patience) A great word. So this illness that befalls you is mercy. Moreover, illness may be a cause for a person to return to his Lord if he was fleeing from Allah, and it may be a cause for the guidance of a sinner and his return to his Lord.
And I recently mentioned a person who was extravagant with himself, an open sinner, far from Allah. So his father died, and as soon as his father died, he was struck by this calamity, he returned to Allah and became upright, and he became one of the best of the young men. So look at how this calamity corrected him.
So we say: Everything in the universe and what Allah decrees in it is the result of mercy.And the indication of that is that when Allah said: (Lord of all the worlds) He said: (The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy) So His dominion is not based on might, humiliation, or making things difficult for the servants, but it is based on mercy.
Allah the Exalted said:
The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy
الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِbut My mercy encompasses all things
وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ(The Bestower of Mercy) means: the One possessing the special mercy that reaches the one who is shown mercy, and this is for the believers only;because of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
And ever is He, to the believers, Merciful.
وَكَانَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ رَحِيماًAnd these examples We present to the people, but none will understand them except those of knowledge.
وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ وَمَا يَعْقِلُهَا إِلَّا الْعَالِمُونَAnd I recently mentioned a person who was extravagant with himself, an open sinner, far from Allah. So his father died, and as soon as his father died, he was struck by this calamity, he returned to Allah and became upright, and he became one of the best of the young men. So look at how this calamity corrected him.
So we say: Everything in the universe and what Allah decrees in it is the result of mercy.And the indication of that is that when Allah said: (Lord of all the worlds) He said: (The Most Merciful, the Bestower of Mercy) So His dominion is not based on might, humiliation, or making things difficult for the servants, but it is based on mercy.