Humanity is created in the divine image and we know that God is absolute knowledge and compassion. Amongst the 99 known names of Allah, the two primary ones are Rahman and Rahim, most merciful and compassionate. Except for one chapter, the remaining 113 chapters of the Quran begin with Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim, that is an invocation of these two names. The Quran says, “By the morning hours and the night when it falls, your Lord has neither forgotten or forsaken you.”
Both the words, Rahman and Rahim, come from the Arabic root verb rahm, that means womb. Prophet Muhammad often said that God’s mercy was akin to the love and compassion that a mother has for her child. Allah endowed women with his primary attribute of mercy. In one of the prayers that the Prophet taught, he said, “O Allah, you are most forgiving one, you love to forgive, so forgive me.” We need to invoke God’s love, mercy and forgiveness all the time.
Prophet Moses had once asked, “O my Lord! Who is the most honourable of thy servants to thee?” God said: “He who pardons when he is in a position of power.” Cons-tantly invoking God’s mercy and compassion leads to God consciousness and helps keep one on the righteous path. Love, compassion and mercy are attributes of a sound heart that is aligned with God. Prophet Muhammad once pointed to his heart and said, “Renunciation is here, the love and fear of Allah is here, sincerity is here.”
When the heart becomes pure, serene and sound, it is able to hear the call of God, the call of the prophets, sufis and sages. People who show no mercy and whose eyes never get moist have hardened hearts, signs that they are disconnected with God. Once a man complained to the Prophet about the hardness of his heart to which he replied, “Stroke the head of an orphan and give him something to eat.”
