Be Merciful Upon Yourself

Be Merciful Upon Yourself

By Mufti Menk

Opening

My brothers and sisters, we need to realize that Allah is the most merciful. He has asked us to be merciful too. When we show mercy to others, Allah will show mercy to us.

And when we show mercy to ourselves, Allah will have mercy upon us too. One might ask, how do I show mercy upon myself? Well, be mindful of the fact that you are a creature of Allah, from Allah, returning to Allah. And do yourself a favor by being merciful upon yourself by doing the right thing.

The Metaphor of Self-Harm

Imagine a person taking a knife and slicing their hands. I mean, why would you chop off your hand? Imagine a person chopping off their legs, their own legs. One might say that's absurd.

But if we are from among those who don't prepare for the hereafter, or we do things in such a way that it would result in our loss of limbs in the hereafter, or heading into jahannam in the hereafter, then indeed, we would be foolish. We would be foolish. So do good deeds and increase them and have mercy on yourself by developing a relationship with Allah and understand that Allah wants you to do good.

And Allah wants you to be kind and merciful. When you're kind, Allah will be kind to you. And when you're kind to yourself, Allah will allow that kindness to seep through.

And you feel contentment, you feel happiness. So one might say, how can I be merciful upon myself? By being real, that's what it is. How can I be real? Okay, understand where you came from, where you are, where you're heading.

So live your life in a way that this body of yours or the soul that you have is treated such that in the hereafter, you just appreciate and you're thankful that you really did the right thing. So my brothers and sisters remember this because many people unfortunately lead their lives in such a way that they don't bother about the hereafter. What mercy have you had on yourself? Be disciplined.

Following Rules and Regulations

Every country has rules and regulations. Every religion has rules and regulations. If you belong to a certain country, you have laws that you would have to abide by.

Well, if you belong to a certain faith, you would have rules and regulations that you have to abide by. So if you call yourself a Muslim, you cannot make up your own rules and regulations. I'm a Muslim, but you know what? I'm going to do this and do that, which Allah has prohibited.

You cannot do that. You need to understand if you're going to belong to a certain nationality, well, uphold that law or make sure that you have not broken it at least. And if you're going to break it, you know what's going to happen.

So, you know, I remember a brother who actually was driving above the speed limit and I told him, my brother, do you know that you might be fined? He says, I'll pay it. So he was prepared to break the law and pay the fine.

Well, look up to him. But Allah tells us regarding the hereafter, don't try that because you don't know what it's going to be. If it's a traffic fine, you know, for every few kilometers or miles, it's going to be X amount of dollars or pounds or rands.

But in the eyes of Allah, Allah says, certain things you think that they are light, but in the eyes of Allah, they are very big, major sins. You know, so be careful. My brothers and sisters, let's thank Allah.

The Principle of Self-Mercy

Let's be from among those who are merciful upon ourselves. And we must understand that means to be able to prepare for the day we're going to go back to Allah and we protect our own bodies that Allah gave us in such a way that when we get to the hereafter, we do not regret. We do not regret.

So this is why my brothers and sisters, I've always been from among those who encourage people, from among those who try to give out some positive message to say, listen, you can do better, you will do better. There is hope out there. Things are going to improve and they definitely will.

It's a matter of time. But have mercy on yourself. By what? By acknowledging number one, you're just a human.

Number two, worship Allah alone as a human being. And remember to develop a better relationship with him all the time. Seek the forgiveness of Allah and reach out to others, help them.

You'll be having mercy upon yourself. You know, Allah says, Allah does not have mercy upon those who don't have mercy on others. So who will Allah have mercy upon? The same person who has had mercy upon others.

So you have mercy upon yourself by being merciful towards others so that Allah has that mercy on you. It's quite deep. In fact, it also reflects in a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ peace be upon him, this type of action where a person does something and as a result of what they've done, something is done to them.

The Hadith on Mercy

So the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ peace be upon him says, you know, Allah has cursed the one who curses his own parents. So someone says, how does a person curse his own parents? It's absurd. So he says, well, he curses the parents of another and that person as a result curses his parents because of what he said and did.

So he would have caused the other man to curse his parents because he cursed that man's parents. Wow, it sounds a little bit tricky, but that's exactly what is meant when it comes to being merciful. Allah says, It's a hadith.

So it's Allah telling us to the blessed lips of the Prophet ﷺ peace be upon him through a hadith. And he says:

(Sunan Abu Dawud Hadith 4941)

"Have mercy upon those on earth and the one in the heavens will have mercy upon you."

May Allah strengthen us and grant us goodness.

The Inevitability of Allah's Authority

I don't wish to lengthen, but I do wish to remind you to say, please have mercy on yourself. You don't do things that would displease Allah. You don't earn the wrath of Allah.

There is no way that we can run away from Allah. Oh Allah, there is no hiding place. There is no place that we can run away from you.

There is no might, no power except yours. You, we will be, if someone runs away from you, they will be running to you anyway. So there's no way that anyone can run away from Allah.

You have no option but to develop a beautiful relationship with your maker. Analyze what he wants from you. He wants purity.

He wants goodness. He wants reaching out. He wants kindness.

He wants amazing character and conduct from you and I. He wants us to worship him alone. And that's it. Follow the beautiful example of the messengers.

Tests and Challenges

That is what Allah wants. So if you consider it carefully, when we discipline ourselves, by Allah, we achieve contentment, we achieve blessings. And so Allah didn't say, I won't test you because you're a good guy or you're a good woman or you're a good man or whoever, you know.

Allah will test you even more when you're a better person because he says, you're graduating, you know, you've gone to a higher level. So you're going to have a more difficult examination. You're still going to believe.

You're still going to come forth. You're still going to be the good person. If you are, then all praise be to Allah.

Closing

May Allah make it easy for all of us and grant us ease and goodness. And may Allah open our doors. I say this, and peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

And peace and blessings be upon you and the mercy of Allah.