حَدَّثَنَا مُوسَى، قَالَ: حَدَّثَنَا حَمَّادٌ، عَنْ حُمَيْدٍ، عَنِ الْحَسَنِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللهِ بْنِ مُغَفَّلٍ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ رَفِيقٌ يُحِبُّ الرِّفْقَ، وَيُعْطِي عَلَيْهِ مَا لاَ يُعْطِي عَلَى الْعُنْفِ.
Abdullah ibn Mughaffal reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Allah is compassionate and loves compassion. He gives for compassion what He does not give for harshness.”
Bukhari’s al-Adab al-Mufrad 47
Compassion
Becoming Children Again – a Thought by Imam Abdul Latif Finch
Abū Hurayra said, “I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) the truthful confirmed one, Abu’l-Qāsim, say, ‘Mercy is only removed from the one who is destined for wretchedness.” This wretchedness is evil for [1] in the tradition narrated by ‘Abdullah ibn Mas’ūd, may God be pleased with him, it states,
The evil one is he who is evil in the womb of his mother and the good one is he who takes a lesson from the (fate of) others. The narrator came to a person from amongst the Companions of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) who was called Hudhaifa b. Usaid Ghifari and said: How can a person be an evil one without (committing an evil) deed? Thereupon the person said to him: You are surprised at this, whereas I have heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying:
When forty-two nights pass after the semen gets into the womb, Allah sends the angel and gives him shape. Then he creates his sense of hearing, sense of sight, his skin, his flesh, his bones, and then says: My Lord, would he be male or female? And your Lord decides as He desires and the angel then puts down that also and then says: My Lord, what about his age? And your Lord decides as He likes it and the angel puts it down. Then he says: My Lord, what about his livelihood? And then the Lord decides as He likes and the angel writes it down, and then the angel gets out with his scroll of destiny in his hand and nothing is added to it and nothing is subtracted from it. [2]
The opposite of wretchedness or evil, is happiness or goodness. Whoever God has known in His pre-eternal knowledge to be wretched is in truth wretched, even if they appear to be happy, blessed and good. In truth, the truly wretched one is that person who enters into the Fire, a status that will not be known until the next life. As such, we don’t know our actual status with God until then. This is a sobering reality.
However, there are indications about our status in the next life to be found this world. This tradition, it appears, is one of the instructions from the Prophet ﷺ that gives us insight into the reality of our hearts and position with God. In principal, one cannot give another that which they don’t have themselves. So, if a person does not have goodness, mercy, and the like in their own hearts, they are not able to show toward other people. Thus his words, ﷺ , indicate that if we are not goodly to people it is because we can’t give them something that we ourselves do not have, i.e., mercy. In other words, the reason why we are not pleasant to them is because we don’t have that capacity in us ourselves and those who do not have this capacity are not fit for Paradise. In fact, they are suited for the Fire, the abode of wrath for those who hearts are devoid of mercy.
The tradition also indicates that the heart’s basis is in mercy, as he said, (ﷺ),‘Mercy is only removed from the one who is destined for wretchedness.’ This is to say that we are merciful by nature. Children, and overwhelmingly so, and the younger they are, tend to prove this statement to be true, as they are quite merciful and mercified from birth. In fact, when we encounter children that are not merciful we recognize that there is something amiss in their lives. May Allāh restore our child-like natures. Āmīn!
Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch
October 2015
[1] Al-Bukhārī, Kitāb Adab al-Mufrad
[2] Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
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Allah’s Division of Mercy – a hadith from a thought by Imam Abdul Latif Finch
An extract from Imam Abdul Latif Finch’s thought ‘When you love something, you love its very self’
Muhammad Abdul Latif converted to Islam at the age of 20 and has earned ijazas in Islamic Sciences including Quranic Sciences, Hadith, Maliki and Shafi’i Jurisprudence, Usul al-Fiqh, Seerah, Logic, and Arabic Grammar and Morphology under the tutelage of numerous scholars, including Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Salik bin Siddina, Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Abdur Rahman Taahir, Qari Umar Bellahi, Shaykh Abdullah Ali, and Shaykh Yahya Rhodus.
Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch co-founded the Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland, California where he served as the Imam till for 3 years until he resigned in 2012 to focus on his graduate studies. In addition, he was a teacher and a program developer for Deen Intensive Foundation, Seekers Guidance and has assisted Zaytuna College ‘s Summer Arabic Intensive program for three years in a row.
Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch has recently attained a Master’s degree in Philosophy at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, a member of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.
Many thanks to Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch for contributing to this blog.
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Our Need for Mercy – a quote by Imam Abdul Latif Finch
An extract from Imam Abdul Latif Finch’s thought ‘He is wherever you are’
Muhammad Abdul Latif converted to Islam at the age of 20 and has earned ijazas in Islamic Sciences including Quranic Sciences, Hadith, Maliki and Shafi’i Jurisprudence, Usul al-Fiqh, Seerah, Logic, and Arabic Grammar and Morphology under the tutelage of numerous scholars, including Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Shaykh Salik bin Siddina, Imam Zaid Shakir, Shaykh Abdur Rahman Taahir, Qari Umar Bellahi, Shaykh Abdullah Ali, and Shaykh Yahya Rhodus.
Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch co-founded the Lighthouse Mosque in Oakland, California where he served as the Imam till for 3 years until he resigned in 2012 to focus on his graduate studies. In addition, he was a teacher and a program developer for Deen Intensive Foundation, Seekers Guidance and has assisted Zaytuna College ‘s Summer Arabic Intensive program for three years in a row.
Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch has recently attained a Master’s degree in Philosophy at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, a member of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.
Many thanks to Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch for contributing to this blog.
Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch’s website
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He is with you wherever you are – a thought by Imam Abdul Latif Finch
Love is a divine gift from God to His creatures. In fact, some of the Qurānic signs that allude to procreation, the act that allows for humanity to continue forward, point out the reality of this divine blessing. The Qurān states, “And among His signs is that He created spouses for you from yourselves that you may rest in them, and He placed between you love and mercy.” (30:21) Thus in the most pragmatic activity required for the continuity of our species, God opted to plant the quality of love and mercy as the glue that would bind the union together.
In another place, God has stated, “He is with you wherever you are.” (57:4) Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah said:
Allah will say on the Day of Judgment, ‘Son of Adam, I was sick but you did not visit Me.’ ‘My Lord, How could I visit You when You are the Lord of the Worlds?’ ‘Did you not know that one of My servants was sick and you didn’t visit him? If you had visited him you would have found Me there.’ Then Allah will say, ‘Son of Adam, I needed food but you did not feed Me.’ ‘My Lord, How could I feed You when You are the Lord of the Worlds?’ ‘Did you not know that one of My servants was hungry but you did not feed him? If you had fed him you would have found its reward with Me.” Son of Adam, I was thirsty, but you did not give Me something to drink.’ ‘My Lord, How could I give a drink when You are the Lord of the Worlds?’ ‘Did you not know that one of My servants was thirsty but you did not give him a drink? If you had given him a drink, you would have found its reward with Me.’ (Al-Bukhari)
God is obviously not in need of any mercy nor compassion from creation. Rather, God created us with love, mercy, and compassion for we are in need of it. The Quran states that Ādamites (The Children of Ādam) are the representatives (khulafā) of Allāh in the earth. The representative points to the one represented in all their affairs.
As stated in the Qurānic sign above, God creates us in love, mercy and compassion. This aforementioned prophetic tradition shows that we are expected to deal with each other in the same manner while in the world. The one who is able to do that the best is the most gifted of representatives. Perhaps his / her greatest skill is his /her awareness of God in all situations; able to recognize Allāh in all scenarios he /she is able to give Him His right in them. The right of Allāh in dealing with the creation is to treat them as He intended them to be treated, i.e., with love, mercy and compassion. Therefore, the true representation of Allāh in the earth comes through that Child of Ādam who is most merciful toward the creation whoever and wherever they are for he/she is not veiled from their Lord in any situation, so as to forget their specific task in representing Him.
Imam Muhammad Abdul Latif Finch
Aug 2015
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Unlimited Mercy 