Author: Harris Abdullah
Assalamualaikum WBT
Apologies for the long delay on the continuing message of Allah SWT who
is full of compassion and mercy. Looking at the world that has been inflicted
with the pandemic disease of Covid-19, so much more do we need to understand
what this is all about. What does it have to do with what we are looking at
from the Injil in Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the
merciful, for they will be shown mercy. and the relevant
verses in the Quran? We could see many passages in the Al Quran that speak
about compassion and mercy and here are some of the verses.
Surah 6:12 Say, “To whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and earth?” Say, “To Allah.” He has decreed upon Himself mercy. He will surely assemble you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. Those who will lose themselves [that Day] do not believe.
Surah 24:20 And if it had not been for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy… and because Allah is Kind and Merciful.
Surah 16:61 And if Allah were to impose blame on the people for their wrongdoing, He would not have left upon the earth any creature, but He defers them for a specified term. And when their term has come, they will not remain behind an hour, nor will they precede [it].
Surah 18:58 And your Lord is the Forgiving, full of mercy. If He were to impose blame upon them for what they earned, He would have hastened for them the punishment. Rather, for them is an appointment from which they will never find an escape.
Surah 57:27-29 Then We sent following their footsteps Our messengers and followed [them] with Jesus, the son of Mary, and gave him the Gospel. And We placed in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy and monasticism, which they innovated; We did not prescribe it for them except [that they did so] seeking the approval of Allah. But they did not observe it with due observance. So We gave the ones who believed among them their reward, but many of them are defiantly disobedient. O you who have believed, fear Allah and believe in His Messenger; He will [then] give you a double portion of His mercy and make for you a light by which you will walk and forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. [This is] so that the People of the Scripture may know that they are not able [to obtain] anything from the bounty of Allah and that [all] bounty is in the hand of Allah ; He gives it to whom He wills. And Allah is the possessor of great bounty.
Etc.
In general, you could see from the verses shown about God’s Mercy – to the sinners, in terms of giving time before the judgement – in order to be saved by the time of resurrection. And in most references in the Scriptures, you could find that mercy has to do with the consequences of sin. Therefore, mercy has to do with Salvation to mankind. The other side of the coin is that, “Who then can be saved by the time of resurrection?” Is it just by asking forgiveness again and again? Is it a matter of profession of faith in the correct religion? I believe Allah SWT uses Covid-19 pandemic to particularly strike the so-called religious people thinking that they are the chosen ones. You know who you are! How could Covid-19 be more powerful than a place of worship? Just as Allah has left the Temple because of the sin of the sons of Israel, so has He left the Mosque because Allah SWT would not listen to your many Adzan or your dawah, because you have made the name of Allah SWT a laughing stock to the world and blaspheme His Holy Name! He is not pleased with all this man-made religion and rituals. And to add to the woe, (Matthew 23:15) you made those proselytes/converts twice the sons of hell as you are! Take heed to this word: Hosea 6:6 “For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings.” (by: Jewish Publication Society OT (1917) Sacrifice is an outward performance of religious exercise and the many other rituals. Isa Al Masih quoted this again twice in Matt.9:13, 12:7, this shows how important these words are.
Heed this warning seriously all of you. It is not because you profess to be from a religion called Islam, Christianity or Judaism that make you among those who are saved. I am only a voice in the wilderness who would pay attention. Read the scripture carefully and without prejudice. You cannot be saved, it doesn’t matter which of the top 3 religions you professed unless you heed the word of Al Masih Isa in Matthew 5:3-12, you cannot be saved! Why did the Grand Imam Sheikh Al Tayeb cried, basically he knew the fact, he could not find any of the believers having these qualities. The glaring truth shown in Matt.5:7 is that unless you are merciful you cannot be saved! Another verse in Matt.6:12 you will not be forgiven (be saved) unless you forgive others who wronged you. It is impossible. Why! You asked yourself, how many times a day you kept complaining about human misbehavior and the never ending of human selfish nature and the survival of the fittest. Precisely it’s not in the interest of man if man begins to possess the quality of merciful. There was once a great preacher who said that if this is true (Matthew 5:7), then nobody can be saved, that is if it is necessary to be forgiving or merciful then no one can be saved! He really didn’t understand the power and grace of Allah SWT as we can read in Surah 57: 27 that not only Isa Al Masih is the mercy from Allah (Surah 19: 21), Allah even placed compassion and mercy in the hearts of Isa’s followers so that they can be forgiving and merciful to others. This shows that it’s not by human’s strength that one could possess the quality of mercy, it’s by the grace and transforming power of Allah SWT in a person. This is transforming faith, not religious faith.
Let’s look at how this word ‘mercy’ has been used in a particular context. Matthew 9:13 & 27 – verses in the same chapter where Isa Al Masih shows what mercy is. Many times, the word is being used in the context of healing from sickness, Matt 15:22, 17:15, 20:30-31, etc. This whole act trying to show mankind that diseases are the consequences of sin. But it is not a direct connection between diseases and sin. This was the reply of Isa Al Masih to his disciples in John 9:1-3 that the man was born blind was neither his nor his parents’ sin. He was blind because of the consequences of sin in the world. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is a strong reminder of the consequences of sin in the world. Now the disease has struck the religions belonging to the Abrahamic faith whose believers make up 53% to 54% of the world religions. Why? Because there is no genuine mercy and compassion among them. Each one condemning the others. They have created their own brand of religion dictated by man’s traditions that do not belong to Allah SWT. They have created the man-made walls among themselves. They don’t realize that we belong to one another and to Allah SWT through following His Al Masih Isa. Why? Because only through Isa Al Masih can we be transformed into the person with quality of Matthew 5:7 and it is stressed in Surah 57:27-29.
If one desires to see the truth and truly committed to do the truth, one will be able to immediately see that the Rasool/Messenger as mentioned in Surah 57: 28 is referring to Isa Al Masih as the context of the passage from Surah 57:27 talks about Isa Al-Masih and the followers of Isa were given compassion and mercy. Thus, it is only when believers fear Allah and believe in His Messenger (Isa Al-Masih), Allah SWT will grant them a double portion of His mercy. It is imperative to note that believing in Isa is NOT just believing that he is a Rasool of Allah and nothing more. Sadly, this is the only kind of belief that most Muslims hold towards Al-Masih. It is as if nothing more is required of a believer. Is Al-Quran so shallow? No wonder we see most so-called believers whether Jews, Christians or Muslims don’t have much compassion and mercy towards others let alone love others. It is a well-known fact that Muslims in particular show little tolerance towards believers of other reliqions including Christians. Most Christians desire forgiveness and salvation without obedience and commitment on their part. How sad!
It is distressing that religious teachers themselves segregate between belief and obedience (which includes the practical aspect). Faith/Belief in the holy scriptures has never been at the head level but at the heart. Belief always requires obedience on the part of believers in that believers are required to let their faith made known by way of their deeds. Can we understand Mat 5: 7 now – Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy, this is the teaching of Isa Al-Masih. Being merciful is an act of obedience towards the teaching of Al-Masih. If you do it, it shows that you obey and believe in Allah SWT who sent the Kalimatullah to the world and put the Rohullah into your hearts to transform you. Otherwise, how do you show you believe in Isa Al-Masih? We believe in the Rasools by obeying them. Just like we believe in Allah SWT by obeying Him and not just believing that He is the Creator, the Giver of Life etc., right? The reality is we see a lot of evil committed by Muslim extremists, jihadists killing fellow believers, making Muslim women as sex slaves, training Muslim children to kill as the world had observed in Syria and Iraq not long ago. I had seen videos of a religious teacher holding an Al-Quran on his left hand and a gun on his right hand and he boldly encouraged his followers to shoot anyone who tried to stop them from spreading Islam. Ask ourselves honestly, in this generation, who is fiercer than the Muslims? Spreading Islam by pointing guns at others? Why did this happen? Do we see the problem here? Intolerance, extremism, self-glorification etc. which are stark contrast to compassion and mercy are. Why did they think that they could get the mercy or forgiveness of Allah by committing such heinous acts? Likewise, the Catholic priests and even pastors who abused their power and sexually abused the flocks under their care, hypocrites who got themselves busy by listening to confession of sins and offer forgiveness, how could they obtain the mercy of Allah themselves? When Allah granted us His mercy, He is offering us a light by which we will walk and His forgiveness (Surah 57: 28), with the condition that we show mercy and compassion to others. What right have we got to ask mercy from Allah SWT when we don’t show mercy towards others? Do you see the truth here?
Allah’s commitment towards mankind has never been at the head level. He knows mankind needs rain, sunshine, air etc and He provides; that is His commitment to us through His practical acts of compassion and not merely knowing the needs of mankind and not doing anything about them. Likewise, when the Al-Quran commanded the believers to fear Allah and believe in His messenger (Isa Al-Masih), it is a command to obey in action, not just on the head level of knowing. A simple common sense: If we want our Creator to provide our needs in the practical sense, what makes us think that He only requires mental commitment of us? No wonder we see so many believers who are losers. This is a warning to those religious teachers who have been teaching belief as a separate thing from obedience. Before Allah SWT grants us His mercy by way of forgiveness, we are expected to grant others compassion and mercy through forgiving them their transgressions.
True faith involves total commitment to Allah SWT to change us into a new person when He gives us a new heart. (Ref. to Hebrew Scripture – Ezekiel 11:19 And I will give them another heart and a new spirit I will put within them. From their bodies I will remove the hearts of stone, and give them hearts of flesh, Ezekiel 18:31 Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, house of Israel? and Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. A heart of stone cannot feel, it has no life so it cannot show mercy and compassion. Allah SWT antidote to sin in the world is by placing His compassion and mercy into the heart of flesh of a new/transformed man, who follows Isa unconditionally. You still need mercy of God continually in your daily life so that you can continually have mercy and love towards others.
It’s not by reciting a surah in the Quran or Injil or Taurat in order to heal a person like any other religion would do. You cannot heal a person or be healed unless you became that new man whom Allah SWT put His mercy in . You need to become a new creation otherwise you are using the word of God as an exercise of superstition. Look at all the healing that Isa Al Masih did, all those miracles were motivated by the mercy and compassion of Allah SWT, not by human sentiment and emotions.
May Allah SWT, whose name is Yahweh the Almighty God guide and give you hidayah through His Al Masih Isa who is now working in the Spirit, in the many hearts who are open to the truth. Allah SWT is not superficial like most religious teachers who emphasize on outward performance of religious duties. Allah SWT looks at the heart of men. So, let us remember the words of Hosea 6:6 “For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt-offerings.”
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Note:
- All Al-Quran verses are sourced from English Translation of Al-Quran by Sahih International, with thanks.
- All Torah and Injil verses are sourced from The New American Bible (Revised Edition 2011) unless otherwise stated, with thanks.
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