25 Caring for Parents and Children
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The Most Merciful God
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God’s Mercy
The Messenger of God, blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, said: ‘When God decided upon to create, He also pledged Himself to be merciful to all His creation, by writing in His Book which is with Him above His Throne, “My mercy shall prevail over My anger.”’
(Bukhari, Muslim: Abu Hurayrah)
The Messenger of God, bpuh, said: ‘If believers knew the severity of God’s punishment, no one would hope to enter His Paradise; and if disbelievers knew the vastness of His mercy, no one would despair of entering His Paradise.’
(Bukhari, Muslim: Abu Hurayrah)
Once we were with the Prophet, bpuh, when a man came forward, who held in his hand something wrapped up in a blanket. He said: ‘O Messenger of God, I was passing by a thicket of trees when I heard some young birds chirping. I seized them and put them in my blanket. Then their mother appeared and began to hover over my head. So I uncovered them a little to let her see. She alighted on them, and I wrapped them all up in my blanket. Here they all are.’
The Prophet, bpuh, immediately ordered them to be put down. I put them down, but their mother would not leave them. The Prophet, bpuh, thereupon, said: ‘Do you wonder at the compassion of this bird for her young? By Him who has sent me with the Truth, God is more merciful to His servants than this mother of young birds is to her young.’ Then he ordered: ‘Take them back and put them where you got them. And their mother as well.’ So he took them back.
(Abu Dawud:
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Let There Be No God But God
The Prophet, bpuh, said: ‘The right of God upon His servants is that they worship and serve Him alone, and make none a god beside Him; and the right of servants upon God is that He does not punish those who do not make anything a god beside Him.’
(Bukhari, Muslim: Mu
Once we were with the Prophet, bpuh, on one of his expeditions, when we came upon certain people. He asked them who they were. They said that they were Muslims. Among them was a woman who had a child with her. She was kindling a fire, and when the flames rose, she moved her child away.
She went to the Prophet, bpuh, and asked, ‘Are you God’s Messenger?’ He said, ‘Yes, I am.’ She, then, said, ‘You for whom I would give my father and mother as ransom, tell me if God is not the most merciful of all who are merciful?’ He said, ‘Yes, He is.’ She, then, asked, ‘Is God not more merciful to His servants than a mother to her child?’ He said, ‘Yes, He is.’ She, then, said, ‘But a mother does not throw her child into fire.’
On hearing this, the Prophet, bpuh, bowed his head and wept. Then he raised it, looked at her, and said, ‘God would not punish any of His servants except the one who is bent upon denying and rebelling against Him and refuses to say “there is no god but God.”’
(Ibn Majah: Abdullah ibn Umar)
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Utter Dependence Upon God
The Prophet, bpuh, said: God says, ‘My Servants, I have forbidden Myself doing any wrong and have also forbidden you, so do no wrong unto one another.
‘My servants, all of you are astray except those whom I guide; so ask Me for guidance and I shall guide you. My servants, all of you are hungry except those whom I feed; so ask Me for food and I shall feed you. My servants, all of you are naked except those whom I clothe; so ask Me for clothing and I shall clothe you. My servants, you sin by night and by day, yet I forgive all sins; so ask Me for forgiveness and I shall forgive you.
‘My servants, you can do nothing that could harm Me, neither can you do anything that would benefit Me.
‘My servants, even if the first and the last of you, all the human beings and the jinn, become as righteous as the one with the most righteous heart among you, that would add nothing to My kingdom. My servants, if . . . [all of you] . . . become as wicked as the one with the most wicked heart among you, that would diminish nothing from My kingdom.
‘My servants, were . . . [all of you] . . . to stand in one place and ask Me whatever you wished, and were I to give everyone what he asked for, that would not diminish what I have any more than a needle would when put into a sea.
‘My servants, it is only your deeds which I put into your account, and then pay you in full for them; so let him who finds good thank and praise God, and let him who finds other than good blame no one but himself.’
(Muslim: Abu Dharr)
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The Prophet: God’s Mercy and Guidance
The Prophet, bpuh, said: ‘I have been told a parable about myself: A lord built a house, laid a feast in it, and sent an emissary to invite everybody to the feast. Anyone who accepted his invitation, he entered the house, ate of the feast, and earned the lord’s pleasure; but the one who did not accept his invitation, he did not enter the house, got no share of the feast, and incurred the lord’s