By His mercy and love He has shown us the Right way and sent to us messengers and teachers, books and revelations.
Once man believes that God exists he must know His attributes and names. Generally speaking every perfection and absolute goodness belong to Him, and no defect or wrong applies to Him. In specific terms, one should know and believe the following:
1- God is only One, has no partner or son, neither gives birth, nor is He born. He is eternally besought by all and has no beginning or end, and none is equal to Him:
Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begets not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him. (Al-Ikhlas 112:1-4)
2- He is the Merciful and the Compassionate, the Guardian and the True Guide, the Just and the Supreme Lord, the Creator and the Watchful, the First and the Last, the Knowing and the Wise, the Hearing and the Aware, the Witness and the Glorious, the Able and the Powerful, i.e. Al-Hadid 57:1-6, and Al-Hashr 59:22-24.
3- He is the Loving and Provider, the Generous and the Benevolent, the Rich and the Independent, the Forgiving and the Clement, the Patient and the Appreciative, the Unique and the Protector, the Judge and the Peace, i.e. Aal `Imran 3:31, Hud 11:6; Fatir 35:15, and At-Talaq 65:2-3).
Each one of these names and attributes of God is mentioned in various places in the Qur‘an. We all enjoy the care and mercy of God Who is so Loving and Kind to His creation. If we try to count His favors upon us, we cannot, because they are countless, i.e. Ibrahim 14:32-34, and An-Nahl 16:10-18).
His Love
God is High and Supreme, but He is very near to the pious thoughtful people; He answers their prayers and helps them. He loves the people who love Him and forgives their sins. He gives them peace and happiness, knowledge and success, life and protection, He welcomes all those who want to be at peace with Him and never rejects any of them.
He teaches man to be good, to do the right and keep away from the wrong. Because He is so Good and Loving, He recommends and accepts only the good right things. The door of His mercy is always open to any who sincerely seek His support and protection, i.e. Al-Baqarah 2:186, Qaf 50:16.
The Love of God for His creatures is immense and beyond human imagination. We cannot measure or count His favors. He creates us and takes good care of us, not only from the time of our birth onward, but even long before that. He makes us in the best form of creation and gives us all the senses and faculties that we need for our growth.
He helps us when we cannot help ourselves, and provides for us and for our dependents. He creates in man the mind to understand, the soul and conscience to be good and righteous, the feelings and sentiments to kind and humane.
His Mercy
By His mercy we gain true knowledge and see the real light. Because He is Merciful He creates us in the most beautiful shape and provides us with the sun and the moon, the land and sea, the earth and the skies, the plants and the animals.
He is the Creator of all these things and many others for our benefit and use. He makes things that are of service to us in this life, and gives man dignity and intelligence, honor and respect, because man is the best of all created things and is God’ s viceroy on earth.
The mercy of God gives us hope and peace, courage and confidence. It enables us to remedy our griefs and sorrows, to overcome our difficulties and obtain success and happiness.
Indeed, the mercy of God relieves the distressed, cheers the afflicted, consoles the sick, strengthens the desperate, and comforts the needy. In short, the mercy of God is active everywhere all the time in every aspect of our lives. Some people may fail to recognize it only because they take it for granted. But it is real and we can feel it with our hearts and appreciate it with our minds.
The Loving Merciful God never forgets us or lets us down or ignores our sincere calls upon Him. By His mercy and love He has shown us the Right way and sent to us messengers and teachers, books and revelations – all are meant for our help and guidance. The Last Messenger from God is Muhammad, and the most genuine existing book of God is the Qur’an.
From the traditions of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the teachings of the Qur’an, we learn about the Forgiving God. If a person commits a sin or does something wrong, then he is violating the law of God, committing a grave offense against God and abusing his own dignity and existence.
But if he is sincere and wishes to repent, regrets his wrong deeds and wants to turn to God, faithfully seeks pardon from God and honestly approaches Him, then God will certainly accept him and forgive him.
Even those who reject God or His Oneness are assured of forgiveness, should they realize their erroneous attitude and resolve to come back to God. In this connection the Qur’an says:
Say: ‘O My servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the mercy of God: for God forgives all sins: For He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. (An-Nisaa’ 4:48)
Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begets not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him. (Al-Ikhlas 112:1-4)
Say: ‘O My servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the mercy of God: for God forgives all sins: For He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Turn to your Lord (in repentance) and submit to Him, before the penalty comes on you; after that you shall not be helped. And follow the best of the courses revealed to you from your Lord, before the penalty comes on you – of a sudden while you perceive not!’ (Az-Zumar 39:53, 54)
Its Impact
In return for all these great favors and kindness God does not need anything from us, because He is the Needless and the Independent. He does not ask us to pay Him back, for we cannot reward Him or value His immeasurable favors and mercy.
What He commands us to do, however, is only to be good, to be thankful and appreciative, to follow His recommendations and enforce His law, to be the proper manifestation of His goodness and excellent attributes, to be His honest agents and true representatives on earth.
He does not want to enslave us, because He is the One Who grants us dignity and honor. He does not wish to subjugate us, because He is the One Who emancipates us from fear and superstitions. He does not desire to humiliate us because He is the One Who creates us and exalts our ranks above all other beings.
So whatever rules and prescriptions He passes unto us are designed for our own benefit and good. They are meant to help us to enjoy our lives with one another in peace and kindness, in brotherhood and cooperation. They are destined to make us attain His most pleasant company and adopt the surest approach to eternal happiness.
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The article is excerpted from the author’s Islam in Focus.