How Merciful is Allah?

Mr. Jochen Katz has summarized one

of his articles^[1]

thus:

He has prescribed mercy for

himself [6:12], yet he does not guide some, even though he could [6:35, 14:4].

The

basic theme of Mr. Katz's brief article is that at one place, the Qur'an says:

He [Allah] has inscribed

[prescribed] for himself (the rule of) mercy.

According to Mr. Katz, if God really

is as meriful as the Qur'an says then He should have guided all of mankind to

the right path and thereby allowed them the everlasting bliss of the life of

Paradise. But, the Qur'an says that this is not the case. It says that even

though Allah could have guided all of mankind to the path of His liking, but He

still did it not:

… If it were Allah's will, He

could gather them together unto true guidance. …

Instead, the Qur'an says that,

rather than guiding all of mankind to the right path, He guided whom He pleased

and the rest He led astray, as is clear from one of the verses of the Qur'an

which reads as:

Allah leads astray whom he

pleases, and he guides whom He

pleases, …

Mr.

Katz writes:

If it is Allah's will that some

perish, if it is his will that some are not guided as 6:35 clearly says, how can

aya 12 of the same sura be true, that He has prescribed mercy for Himself? Is it

merciful to lead astray…

In

the article that follows, I shall try to briefly present my point of view

regarding the verses and the concepts that Mr. Katz seems to have misunderstood,

because of which he believes that the referred verses contradict each other.

An Analysis of the Referred Verses:

Let us,

first of all, take a look at the three verses, which form the basis of Mr.

Katz's article. The first among these verses - Al-An`aam

6: 12 - reads as:

Ask

them: Whose is it that is between the heavens and the earth? Say: It is

Allah's. He has decreed mercy for Himself, [thus] He shall definitely gather

you all to the Day of Resurrection, in the coming of which there is no doubt.

Indeed, those who have lost their souls shall not believe [in it].

The second verse - Al-An`aam

6: 35 - reads as:

If it

is hard for you to bear their aversion [from the truth] seek if you can a

chasm in the earth or a ladder to the sky by which you can bring them a sign

[for We are not going to show them any signs to make them believe]. Had God

pleased, He would have guided them all [to the right path]. So, do not be

carried away by your desire [to guide them].

The third verse - Ibraheem

14: 4

- reads as:

Each

messenger that We sent, spoke only in the language of his own people so that

he may clarify [Our commandments] to them. Allah leads astray whom He pleases

and guides whom He pleases. He is the Mighty, the Wise.

These are the three verses on the

basis of which Mr. Katz has pointed out the said contradiction in the Qur'an.

These three verses, as is quite obvious, deal with two separate phenomena. One

is the obvious corollary of Allah's Mercy (the first verse), and the other is

the wisdom behind the Allah's law regarding guidance of the human soul in the

life of this world (the second and the third verse). Now, obviously, being

merciful does not automatically imply lack of wisdom. What it does imply is that

the wisdom should not negate mercy in anyway. As shall be seen in the following

paragraphs, the two [i.e. wisdom and mercy] go hand in hand, and are in no way

mutually exclusive or contradictory.

God's Mercy - As Introduced by the Qur'an

The

Qur'an says that God is Most Merciful. He is Rahmaan

and Raheem.

Rahmaan

means that the extent of His Mercy is beyond our comprehension. He is infinitely

Merciful. While Raheem

means that this level of His Mercy extends forever, it shall never reduce.

According

to the Qur'an, some of the signs of God's Mercy are that:

• His Providence and His blessings in the life of this world, are not

  limited to those who submit to His commands. He is the Provider for

  everyone, whether a person is faithful to Him or whether he rejects His

  call;

• He does not punish the sinners for their sins immediately He gives them

  respite and time to correct their behavior;

• When a sinner turns to Him and asks His forgiveness with an honest heart

  and a sincere resolve to correction, He not only forgives his sins but also

  converts his bad deeds into good ones;

• When a person calls Him with a sincere and an honest heart and asks for

  His guidance, He opens the doors of His guidance for such a person;

• He does not put a man in such a situation where he is forced to lose his

  faith in Him;

• He does not hold man responsible for something that is against the

  commands of Allah, if man is forced to do such evil by external conditions;

• He does not hold man responsible for something that is against the

  commands of Allah, if such evil is done in ignorance;

• He sent His prophets and messengers for man's guidance to the path of His

  liking;

• He rewards man for his intention of doing good, even though man is not

  able to carry out his intention;

I am sure if a person looks at and

around himself, he shall find innumerable items that are a sign of God's

infinite Mercy. If our eyes see and our ears hear and our touch feels, and our

tongue tastes and our hearts beat, it is only because of His infinite Mercy. He

has provided everything that was not only essential for our subsistence on this

earth but also that which makes our stay on the earth comfortable and enjoyable.

He has filled the heart of parents with the love that a child needs. He has

provided water with the quality to quench the thirst of a dry mouth. And He has

bestowed trees with the cool shadow to provide the wayfarer a respite from the

burning sun. He has given us our senses, He has bestowed on us the faculty of

reason and, most of all, He has given us this life - A life which we never want

to let go.

The Qur'an also tells us that one of

the obvious corollaries of God's Mercy is justice. Thus, the Day of Judgment -

the day on which good and evil shall be separated and shall be given their

respective rewards - according to the Qur'an is an essential requirement of

God's infinite Mercy.

The Law of Guidance of the Human Soul

The first part of the law of

guidance of the human soul pertains to the freedom of choice that God has given

man in a particular sphere. The Qur'an tells us that the life of this world is a

test. Man is given this life and is bestowed with all the good things in life

not because he earned these good things, but to be tested as to how he uses

these things. The good times and the bad times in this life are generally

distributed among individuals not as a reward or a punishment for their deeds,

but to test them regarding whether they are thankful when given good times and

whether they remain steadfast in the way of their Lord, when given bad times.

The Qur'an tells us that for the purpose of this test man was given freedom to

choose in a particular sphere - especially the sphere in which he was being

tested. Thus, man may, if he chooses, turn away from the right path or he may

submit to its demands. God Himself gave man this freedom.

If God had so wanted, He could have

made all men follow the right path. But that would effectively have meant that

man was not given any freedom to choose. And without this freedom the human soul

could not have been tested. In such a case, all men would have been good, not by

choice but by default. Reward or punishment would then have become meaningless.

Thus, even though God could have guided all men to the right path, He did it

not, so that man could be tested effectively and so that his good and bad deeds

be truly called his own and so that he be rewarded for opting for the good and

punished for opting for the evil. This is exactly what the following verse

means:

Had

God pleased, He would have guided them all [to the right path]…. (Al-An`aam

6: 35)

The

second part of the law of guidance of the human soul is that God opens His doors

for guidance only to those who prove themselves deserving of this favor. If man

honestly searches for the truth, God shall guide Him to the right path. But if

man is wary of the truth, God shall only increase his hatred for the good. This

law of guidance of the human soul has been explained by Dr. Khalid Zaheer, in

one of his articles titled “The Qur'anic Law of Guidance”^[2],

in the following words:

According to the details available

in the Qur'an on the nature of the law, each individual who has been put

through the test of this worldly life has been provided with adequate

abilities to distinguish right from wrong, truth from untruth. However, since

the this-worldly part of man's life was meant to be only a trial in God

Almighty's plan to decide as to who from amongst the human beings are going

to be found deserving the privilege of entry into al-Jannah and who are not,

wrong and untruth were allowed to be shrouded under tempting, attractive

appearances. Thus, to tell a lie in many worldly situations accompanies some

immediate material gains, while to tell a truth, it requires the truthful to

make sacrifices in doing so. However, those who are declining to follow the

right behaviour for worldly gains have been provided with enough abilities to

know from within their souls that what they are doing is in fact hideous.

Therefore, an individual's act of lying, for example, may bring some

immediate worldly benefits for him on the one hand, but would also be

accompanied by a feeling of guilt in his conscience on the other. This voice

of the conscience continues to condemn if the individual continues to defy its

verdicts, although each subsequent stroke of conscience-pricking if ignored is

likely to be less pronounced than the earlier ones. In other words, the

facility of self-correction from within is not available to individuals

unconditionally and endlessly. If the voice of the conscience is valued by the

individual through his positive responses to its calls, it grows in strength.

If it is ignored, it gets weaker until such time that it finally disappears

into extinction.

Likewise, if an individual

demonstrates his willingness to respond to the calls of his conscience, no

matter what the consequences, and as a result even when he commits a crime

against its verdict, he earnestly regrets and corrects himself, this inner

facility not only survives but grows from strength to strength. For such

people the path of truth and righteousness is not only familiar but extremely

pleasing. Thus, whenever the ultimate truth in the form of the message of a

prophet of Allah approaches them, they find no hesitation in recognizing and

acknowedging it. They, in fact, find it so familiar that they do not notice

any variance between their inner conscience and the contents of the message.

Accordingly, the message appears to them most convincing and appealing.

Thus when Allah's message is

presented before individuals, their responses are in direct correlation with

the state of their conscience. There are some who give an immediately positive

response. Such are the people who had preserved the sanctity of their

conscience by always respecting the truth and nobility. Since they were always

accustomed to acknowledging and respecting the truth, when the clearest

manifestation of truth is presented to them, it is no wonder that they

unhesitatingly incline towards it. It is an inviolable law which is enforced

through subtle manipulations in the human feelings ultimately affecting the

behavioural pattern of individuals. The application of the positive aspect of

the law in an individual not only helps him in realising the veracity of the

truth, it furthermore leads him to the higher levels of achievement of it.

Thus their life in this world is a spiritual journey made easier (tayseer)

enabling them to be taken from the darkness of relative untruth towards the

ever-brightening light of truth.

But for those who have been

consistently ignoring the truth in its different manifestations, they do not

get the privilege of welcoming the message of Allah, the highest level of

truth. It is as if when a student fails at a lower grade examination, he

cannot be expected to make it to success at a higher one. They are not only

deprived of acknowledging the truth, but are furthermore allowed to plunge

into the ever-deepening darkness of ignorance (imhaal).

However, it seems that not every

one belongs to the category of people who possess the highest level of

nobility of heart. There are many others who despite having duly respected

verdicts of their conscience on many occasions, did show a tendency of going

on the wrong side as well to fall into the trap of doing acts that were not

acceptable to the conscience. Thus their inner souls are not as unmistakably

clean as of those belonging to the first category. At the time when they are

confronted with the message of truth, they are not as immediately clear about

its veracity as is the case of those belonging to the first category. They

might, therefore, hesitate, to begin with, in accepting it, even to the extent

of apparently denying it. However, on later reconsideration, they realise that

their earlier decision was incorrect. Thus they too ultimately get the

privilege of ackowledging and valuing the truth. The Qur'an says, ” And

there are others who have confessed their faults. They mixed good works with

others that are evil. It may be that Allah will turn to them with compassion.

Surely Allah is Most Forgiving, Merciful.(9:102)

As for those who have lost the

true sifting ability of their souls as a consequence of their persistently

wrong behaviour, since their inner realisation has perished, they do not find

themselves able to appreciate the purity of the message that comes from Allah.

The Qur'an mentions the description of a group of such people belonging to the

tribe of Quraish thus: “So

comply not with the wishes of those who reject (the Truth). They wish that you

should compromise so that they may also compromise. Do not pay heed to any

mean swearer, backbiter, one who goes about slandering, forbidder of good,

transgressor, sinful, crude, and above all mean and infamous. Only because he

possesses riches and children. When Our signs are recited before him, he says 'Tales of the ancient.'” (68:8-15) On another

occasion it is mentioned thus: “Ah

the woe that day for those who deny, who call the day of judgement a lie! None

denies it but the wicked, the transgressor. When Our revelations are recited

before him, he says: 'Fables of long ago.' No. In fact what they have been

doing has rusted their hearts.” (83:10-14) Even if

people belonging to this category apparently accept the truth, it is only for

worldly benefits and not for genuine consideration of acknowledging the voice

of the truth. The Qur'an says, “When

the hypocrites come to you, they say, 'We confirm that you are the messenger

of Allah.' Allah indeed knows you are His messenger. Allah bears witness

that hypocrites are indeed liars. They have made their oaths a shield, thus

they obstruct others from the way of Allah. It is certainly evil what they do.

That is because they came to believe, and then disbelievd, so their hearts

were sealed and now they do not understand.” (63:1-3)

Those who deny the message of the

prophets, they still get the opportunity from God to consider accepting it for

a while. On persistent denial, however, the inner conscience begins to lose

its God-given ability and when their intransigence goes beyond a certain

divinely established limit, the inner damage is rendered irreparable. It is an

inflexible aspect of the law of guidance in the case of such people that, as

the Qur'an informs us, Allah seals their hearts, their ears and their eyes,

such that they do not get any further opportunity from Him of acknowledging

the truth. All attempts to bring them close to faith fail, because the inner

ability that could enable them to acquire it has disappeared for ever. As a

consequence the Qur'an informs us that Allah has, “…

raised a barrier in front of them and a barrier behind them, and have covered

them over so that they are not able to see (the truth). Whether you warn them

or do not warn them, it is all the same; they will not believe.”

(36:9-10) They are described by the Qur'an as worse than beasts (7:179, 25:44,

and 8:22) since they have allowed themselves to remain deaf, dumb and blind to

the ultimate truth despite being blessed with such faculties which, if they

were properly used, could have lead them to appreciating it.

This is the basic outline of the law

of guidance of the human soul. God gives guidance to man or leads him astray on

the basis of this law. No one, even if he be a prophet of God, can influence Him

in the implementation of this law. This is exactly what the verses, like the

third cited verse (Ibra'heem

14: 4) mean.

In the

particular environment in which the Qur'an was revealed there were at least two

groups who believed that they were the chosen one's of God. One were the Bani-Israil

- the jews - and the other were the leaders of Quraish.

Both these classes of people tried to convince their followers by saying that if

Mohammad (pbuh)'s message was really a blessing of God, then no one could have

surpassed them in accepting it. If God had chosen them to be the leaders over

others during the past many centuries, then how could anyone - especially the

poor and the homeless - surpass them in this case. It is primarily as a reply

to such idiosyncrasies of the two groups that the Qur'an has stressed that no

one has a monopoly over God's guidance. God guides and leads people astray,

according to His own laws, and in the implementation of His laws, no one can

have any influence on Him. He cannot, in anyway be bound by the likings of

others. He is completely free in this implementation and does exactly how He

pleases. It is to signify this fact that these verses in a number of instances

are followed by the following attributes of God:

Waasi`and

`aleem, (as in A'l

Imraan 3: 73) meaning “Liberal” or “One whose mercy is

not limited” or “Munificent” and “All Knowing” or

“Omniscient”

zul-fadhl

al-`azeem,

(as in A'l Imraan 3: 74)

meaning “One with infinite or abounding grace”;

`aleem

and

Hakeem, (as in Al-Insaan

76: 30) meaning “All Knowing” or “Omniscient” and

“All Wise”; and

`azeez

and Hakeem, (as in Ibra'heem

14: 4) meaning “Mighty” and “All Wise”.

The first set of attributes at the

end of such a verse signifies that God's mercy is not limited to a particular

people [as the Jews and the leaders of the Quraish would

like it to be]. He is All Knowing, He guides whom He, according to His absolute

Knowledge, knows to be deserving of this favor. The second attribute at the end

of such a verse signifies the same meaning as “Waasi`“.

The third set of attributes at the end of such verses signifies that God knows

who is deserving of His favors and that all His laws and decisions are based on

infinite wisdom. While the fourth set of attributes at the end of such verses

signifies that God is absolutely independent of any influence in the

implementation of His laws. He is the Mighty. And all His laws and decisions are

based on infinite wisdom.

In

the light of the explanation given above, we can say that the contradiction

pointed out by Mr. Katz is actually based on an incorrect understanding of the

cited verses. Because these verses relate to separate phenomena, therefore there

does not arise the question of any contradiction(s).

© Copyright May 1999. All Rights Reserved with the Author