Wouldn’t it be amazing to characterize a person as compassionate which is the greatest trait associated with the Almighty Allah (SWT)? Notice how the Holy Quran starts with the name of Allah (SWT), “Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem”, “The Most Compassionate, The Especially Compassionate and Merciful.” This shows that Allah (SWT) has written upon Himself (SWT) to deal with mankind with gracious mercifulness and compassion. However, this comes with a condition, that the mercy and compassion we seek from Allah (SWT), we should display and share the same characteristics with others.
Therefore, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) directed us in the following hadith (Sunan Abi Dawud 4941), “The Compassionate One has mercy on those who are merciful. If you show mercy to those who are on the earth, He Who is in the heaven will show mercy to you.”
Besides the above hadith, other hadiths, and Surahs like Ar-Rehman (The Lord of Mercy) in the Holy Quran, serve as encouragement for us to espouse the divine attributes of Allah (SWT) in our own lives. This means the greatest worship is to adopt the divine traits of Allah (SWT).
In a hadith kudsi (Sahih Muslim 2569), the Prophet (SAW) narrates, “Verily, Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, would say on the Day of Resurrection: O son of Adam, I was sick but you did not visit Me. He would say: O my Lord; how could I visit Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds? Thereupon He would say: Didn’t you know that such and such servant of Mine was sick but you did not visit him and were you not aware of this that if you had visited him, you would have found Me by him? O son of Adam, I asked for food from you but you did not feed Me.
He would say: My Lord, how could I feed Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds? He said: Didn’t you know that such and such servant of Mine asked food from you but you did not feed him and were you not aware that if you had fed him you would have found him by My side? (The Lord would again say:) O son of Adam, I asked drink from you but you did not provide Me. He would say: My Lord, how could I provide Thee whereas Thou art the Lord of the worlds? Thereupon He would say: Such and such of servant of Mine asked you for a drink but you did not provide him and had you provided him drink you would have found him near Me.”
Allah (SWT) in the above hadith is teaching us that we can only speak proudly of Allah’s (SWT) blessings bestowed upon us by having first shown and share them with those that Allah (SWT) provided us opportunities to help.
We know that Allah (SWT) sent our Nabi (SAW) as an expression of His (SWT) mercy as stated in the Holy Quran (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayat 107), “We have sent you ˹O Prophet˺ only as a mercy for the whole world.” The Holy Prophet’s (SAW) very purpose, attitude, and lifestyle were to show us how to be merciful in our conduct with each other so that we can earn Allah’s (SWT) mercy on the Day of the Judgement and in this world.
In Surah Ale-Imran, Ayat 159, Allah (SWT) tells us, “So by mercy from Allah, [O Muḥammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So, pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him].”
Today, we can’t imagine that the Sahaba would ever abandon the Holy Prophet (SAW) but in the above ayat, Allah (SWT) states that they would have left him (SAW) if he (SAW) didn’t have mercy in his (SAW) heart. Likewise, we will also push away the people around us if we deal with them with a hard heart, and so compassion is the greatest characteristic of a believer.
One day the Holy Prophet (SAW) was playing with his grandson as reported in the following hadith (Sahih Bukhari 5997), “Allah’s Apostle kissed Al-Hasan bin `Ali while Al-Aqra’ bin H`Abis at-Tamim was sitting beside him. Al-Aqra said, I have ten children and I have never kissed any one of them, Allah’s Apostle cast a look at him and said, Whoever is not merciful to others will not be treated mercifully.”
Al-Aqra (RA) asked our Nabi (SAW) for advice on how he (RA) could soften his heart and the Holy Prophet (SAW) told him to find a young orphan child to cherish and nurture or at least give a pat on their head as reassurance might lead to mercy entering his heart.
Thus, the key to increasing our compassion is to care for others, including flora and fauna. Inside the Masjid of the Holy Prophet (SAW), cats would freely roam around and play with the Sahaba. One of the great conveyors of our Nabi’s sunnah was Abu Huraira (RA), whose name means “one with cat”. The Prophet (SAW) gave Abu Huraira (RA) this nickname due to his love for cats and used to have a tiny kitten living in his sleeve that would be present even during salat.
This example shows us that our compassion is not just for humans but extends to animals and plants. When the Sahaba began to construct the Prophet’s (SAW) Masjid, the Sahaba were about to chop down a small date tree to enhance the size of the Masjid but our Nabi (SAW) stopped them from chopping it down and allowed it to grow. The Holy Prophet (SAW) used to sit and lead the prayers besides this date tree.
Compassion is a way of life and one of the greatest traits that a believer seeks to have. Everything that we put mercy and compassion into will always become more beautiful and noble. Compassion embodies the true spirit of Islam and compassion is far more important to Islamic teachings than anything else.
