Practices of Mercy by the Messenger

In Surat Al-Anbya (21 The Prophets), Allah subhanallah wa ta’ala tells Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him: “We have sent you ˹O Prophet˺ only as a mercy for the whole world.” (21:107)

Ustadh Michael Wolfender shares examples from the prophet’s mercy many times throughout his life and more so during the worst and most difficult day of his life. The Prophet ﷺ told his wife Aisha that the hardest day of his life was when he went to Dtahif and the people stoned him and chased him until his feet were bleeding and his sandals were stuck to his feet. On that day, Angel Jibril came to the prophet and advised the angel of the mountains is here and ready to crush the people of this city between two mountains for what they did to you. Instead, the prophet ﷺ expressed nothing but mercy for these people and that hopefully one day, their sons and daughters would become Muslims. The people of the city did not know of his mercy and still wanted to kill him and killed some of his followers. Generations later, this city is indeed populated by Muslims. 

One day, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ saw an old woman carrying bags on her way home and he helped her carry them all the way home and as they were walking, she praised him for helping her. Along the journey, she began to tell him of a man poisoning the city with his lies and that is breaking families apart with his. She told the Prophet to avoid this man and that his name is Muhammad. At that moment, the Prophet did not tell the woman that it was him she was speaking ill about until she asked for his name at the end of the journey. The woman felt horrible for believing all the evil things people were saying about they Prophet and after getting to know him, she joined Islam. 

When the prophet ﷺ returned to Mecca after completing his Hijra to Madina, he returned to the people that killed his followers and harassed him and made life horrible for him. He returned to Mecca victorious because the people had embraced Islam and still, after all that he had faced with the people of Mecca, he still returned to them and harmed no one. Think about the amount of mercy it would take to not react with anger against these people. 

When Prophet Muhammad ﷺ passed away, his companions and followers made sure the entire world knew of his mercy. SubhanAllah, the Prophet’s mercy spread to his Shahaba because when they went to conquer Jerusalem, they did not fight the people there. Like the Prophet, they showed mercy. This is how Islam spread to the most eastern parts of China, to Indonesia, through the Middle East, and large parts of Africa.

What can we do in order to live with the mercy of the messenger ﷺ?

1. Offer prayer 5 times daily: Salah is a mercy and we can stay alive by doing our five prayers. Modern day psychologists recommend meditating and taking time to be at peace. Salah is prescribed for you and everything Allah SWT has given us is the best thing for you. 
2. Fasting: Allah SWT has given us fasting to be merciful to our bodies. Modern day science tells us one of the best ways to be healthy physically and psychologically is to fast. 

The Prophet ﷺ made sure that in his interactions with all people, he was kind, fair, and most importantly merciful. It’s essential for us to continue to show that same mercy to our friends, our communities, the world, and ourselves, for the sake of Allah SWT.