Mercy- The Distinguishing Trait of Islam

Mercy: The Distinguishing Trait of Islam

Imam Zaid Shakir

Introduction and Opening Remarks

The third speaker this morning is Imam Zaid Shakir, who was introduced earlier. His talk is entitled, Mercy, the Distinguishing Trait of Islam.

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. Peace and blessings be upon the Master of the Messengers, our Master Muhammad, and upon his family and companions. Peace and blessings be upon you.

May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. All praise is due to Allah. It is a great honor to be here this morning.

Welcome and Gathering

As we mentioned earlier, we would like to welcome everyone. And again, welcome the members of the deaf community, and welcome the interpreters for them. We're gathered here by the grace of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, in our splendor.

The beautiful faces, the beautiful colors, the beautiful hearts. In peace, Muslims, our friends who you might have brought along, and perhaps even a few enemies who are also welcome. But we ask one thing of the enemies. Please be a truthful witness and tell the full story.

The Context of Our Gathering

As we are assembled here in our nation's capital, on the eve of a day of tremendous national significance, at a time of tremendous tension, qualified and characterized by incredible challenges, I can think of no other way, no better way rather than to begin this talk after mentioning, of course, that mercy, and we can proceed in a very conventional manner, really flows from our Creator, who is named Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim, the merciful, the one who extends his mercy to others. Ar-Rauf, the compassionate. Al-Wadud, the loving.

The Divine Names of Mercy

Every chapter in the Qur'an which expresses the meanings, the eternal meanings of the words of our Creator begins with the exception of one with:

In the name of Almighty God, the merciful, the one who extends his mercy to his creation.

The Prophet as Reflection of Divine Mercy

And that mercy is reflected by our Prophet, or should we say the light of that mercy is reflected by our Prophet. He's the badr, the full moon reflecting in full the light of the sun. So he is reflecting in full the light of divine meanings and divine truth. May the peace and blessings of Almighty God be upon him.

And as believers, we endeavor to the best of our ability to reflect that light, the light of mercy and the light of compassion in all that we do and its various implications. But we will never attain to the brightness of the full moon. So we describe the stars, we describe the stars who still provide guidance in the absence of the full moon. So may Allah Ta'ala bless us to be guides. And this is an integral part of our community and to continue to articulate along this line is a conventional approach.

An Unconventional Approach: Abigail Adams's Letter

So I'm going to move away from that approach. We'll come back to it later, Inshallah, to a more unconventional approach to the topic by quoting, and I believe fittingly as we're here in the nation's capital, as we mentioned at a time of tremendous import for the nation, by quoting from a great American, Abigail Adams, who wrote to her 12-year-old son, John Quincy Adams, a future president, herself being the wife of John Adams, the second president of the United States.

She wrote to her 12-year-old son after he had gone to Paris, France, in an arduous journey that actually the ship crashed on the shores of Spain. They had to walk over the Pyrenees, through Spain, over the Pyrenees, and on to Paris. She wrote to her 12-year-old son and John Adams, the first American ambassador to France.

And we know how indispensable the assistance of France was in General Lafayette. Every city in this country, every major city, has a Lafayette Park or a Lafayette Street in it, or a Lafayette Plaza. So we know how important the contributions of the French were, and knowing that, we know how ridiculous the whole idea of Freedom Fries are. But that's a subject for another day.

The Call to Action in Times of Challenge

She wrote to her 12-year-old son:

"These are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the calm of life or in the repose of a Pacific station that great characters are formed. Would Cicero have shown so distinguished an orator if he had not been roused, kindled, and inflamed by the tyranny of Catiline, Varys, and Mark Anthony? The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. All history will convince you of this, and that wisdom and penetration are the fruit of experience, not the lessons of retirement and leisure. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then the qualities which otherwise lie dormant wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman."

I begin in this vein to say to you, my brothers and sisters, both in faith and humanity, that now is not the time to flee from the challenges confronting us. Now is not the time to run away and hide from the challenges facing us as a Muslim community, nor from the challenges facing us or facing our nation. Now is the time to be roused, kindled, and inflamed into action. Now is the time for the emergence of the hero and the statesman and the stateswoman, as Dr. Mervay fittingly could be described, because we've seen what results when the scourges of war, tyranny, and desolation are left unchecked.

Defining Heroism Through the Lens of Mercy

Brothers and sisters, let us reflect on exactly what a hero is. No matter how we define it, heroism cannot be separated from mercy. Heroism cannot be separated from mercy.

Mercy, in our Muslim tradition, is defined as the intent to bring good to others and to cause them benefit. In essence, to secure benefits for people, others, and might be the environment or animals, to secure benefit and to ward off harm. That's the essence of mercy, and really that's the essence of heroism.

The Bedrock of Heroism: Sacrifice and Preference

Two things, though, as Dr. Altaf mentioned, compassion has a bedrock, and the bedrock of compassion is mercy, and heroism has a bedrock, and mercy has the same bedrock, composed of two things. One we refer to as at-tadhiyah, sacrifice, or the willingness to expose oneself to deprivation and harm, loss, possibly even the loss of one's life for the benefit of others, and ithar, giving preference to others.

These two concepts are beautifully illustrated in the way that the Ansar, the early Muslim helpers, the companions of the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of almighty God be upon him, went through when they received the muhajireen, or those who migrated to them from Mecca. And that spirit of sacrifice and preference is captured in the Qur'an, when Allah Ta'ala mentions:

"They give preference to others over themselves, even though they themselves are in dire need, and whoever can ward off the excessive greed and stinginess or avarice of their soul, they are the ones who will succeed." (Quran 59:9)

The Foundation of a Merciful Society

Brothers and sisters, that preference, that willingness to sacrifice for others, that willingness to suffer deprivation so that others could have, that became the foundation of a particular type of politics. That became the foundation of a particular type of economics. That became the foundation for the formation of a particular type of society.

And I say to you, as we find the empathy, the spirit of compassion and the spirit of mercy, the spirit of giving preference, the spirit of sharing challenge in this country and in this world by a politics of selfishness and self-interest, by economic policies driven solely by selfishness and self-interest, by societal considerations that are driven exclusively by selfishness and self-interest, by cold-heartedness and a lack of compassion, a lack of

mercy and a lack of caring, this has to be the foundation of the politics, the economics and the societal influence that we advocate for going forward. This has to be the basis of those realities. Otherwise, we'll find ourselves in a very harsh, a very bitter and a very unforgiving world.

Textbook Definition of Heroism

We can return to what is a hero. The dictionary tells us that a hero is a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life. So you see the sacrifice, even in the textbook definition is there, with heroism.

In this sense, all of those firefighters, policemen, first responders and even ordinary citizens who risked and or lost their lives desperately trying to save people on 9-11 in New York and here in Washington, D.C., are heroes and they should be honored and recognized as such.

Napoleon's Definition: True Heroism

If we move away though from that textbook definition and reflect on another definition, this definition given to us by the infamous or famous, depending on how you look at him, Napoleon Bonaparte. He said true heroism consists in being superior to the ills of life in whatever shape they may challenge us to combat.

This definition allows room and space, opportunity for all of us to be heroes for if each and every one of us looks deep down inside of ourselves, digs deep down inside of ourselves, we can pull up those qualities and those characteristics which allow us to rise above the ills of life, the ills of society, the ills that are even within ourselves and to combat and overcome and to rise above.

Rising Above the Ills of Society

Brothers and sisters, we all know there are many ills in our society and this is not the time to run through a litany of those ills or to even emphasize or focus on them. But we should understand that no matter what those ills are in our society, we can complain about them, we can dismiss them, we can become obsessed with overcoming them. But if we understand that our truth, that our love, our dedication, our compassion, our mercy are calling us to rise above, then as we said, each and every one of us can be a hero.

Examples of Contemporary Heroes: John Esposito and Karen Armstrong

John Esposito and Karen Armstrong, who will address you later today, they're not Muslims, but they are heroes because when we find in this country so-called scholarship being distorted to defame Muslims, to villainize and demonize Muslims, they have found the wherewithal within themselves to rise above that, not to become involved in that and it's very easy to do and it's very profitable. People are making millions of dollars doing it, but they prefer to be truthful and balanced in their scholarship and to be fair witnesses and in doing that they are combating the defamation, the bigotry, the prejudice and those efforts to stimulate and create hatred and enmity towards Muslims.

Simon Kennedy: A Hero of Forgiveness

Simon Kennedy of Sydney, Australia, most of you don't know him, but he's a hero. He wouldn't accept being called a hero. I actually had an interview with him on Australian television yesterday and they'll be here a little later on to document this conference. He wouldn't accept being called a hero. He's a stand-up comedian, but when his mother, in 2001, boarded a flight on the morning of September 11th, Flight 77, right here at Dulles Airport, she was returning home. She thought she would be returning home, flying from here, Washington D.C., to Los Angeles, from there to Hawaii and from Hawaii onwards to Australia.

After completing a tour of the United States and Canada, a vacation, she had promised herself for 25 years working with the Red Cross in Australia, but too busy to take that vacation. She retired and had that opportunity. She took that vacation and she completed it and she was on her way home. But as we all know, Flight 77 never made it to Los Angeles.

And Simon Kennedy, in the aftermath of his mother's tragic death, he was encouraged to jump onto the Muslim-bashing bandwagon. He was encouraged to join those who were engaging in a chorus of hatred and vengeance against the Muslim community, but he rose above that. And he decided he would dedicate his life to spreading a message of tolerance, a message of understanding, a message of mutual respect for various faiths, races, and ethnicities.

Rais Bhuiyan: The Power of Mercy and Forgiveness

Rais Bhuiyan, who's in attendance today, he's a hero. When the ills of life and the ills of this society sent a hate-filled, violent, and vengeful person by the name of Mark Stroman his way, a person who described himself as a white supremacist, a person who described himself at his trial as the Arab slayer.

When Mark Stroman's relative was killed in one of the towers, he decided to take justice in his own hands in Dallas, Texas, and he shot and murdered two people, one who was a Muslim in his convenience store, a second, a Hindu, who he thought was a Muslim, and he tried to murder a third person, Rais Bhuiyan. He shot him in the face point-blank with a shotgun, but Rais survived after many surgeries and the loss of his right eye, and to this day he still has 34 buckshot pellets in his face.

Rais found within himself, though, after he recovered, to forgive Mark Stroman and to seek pardon for him. Stroman was on death row. He was executed this past July. Rais Bhuiyan waged a valiant struggle, an international struggle, to save his life as part of his forgiveness for him.

Mark Stroman's Transformation

Stroman himself, brothers and sisters, is a hero. His last statement after he renounced his white supremacist views, after he renounced his hatred because he was so affected by the act of compassion and grace that was engaged in by Rais Bhuiyan, his last statement before his death in the death chamber in Texas, was:

"Hate is going on in this world and it has to stop. Hate causes a lifetime of pain."

The Choice Before Us

As we said, brothers and sisters, we can complain, we can petition, we can rally and rail against the injustices, or we can reach down into our soul and bring forth those qualities of compassion and mercy that all of those mentioned and many, many others we could be here all day mentioning have done.

We can believe that the forces of the world leave us no room for mercy and no room for compassion, or we can believe in the promise of Almighty God, in the promise of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that good can conquer evil, that mercy can conquer violence and vengeance.

The Quranic Promise: Responding to Evil with Good

"Good and evil are not equal. Respond to evil with that which is best, with good. And you will see the one between whom there is enmity between you and him become as it were an intimate friend." (Quran 41:34)

And what better illustration than Rais Bhuiyan and Mark Stroman. That is possible. We've seen it. But all of us have to believe it. And all of us can be heroes.

Conclusion: Becoming a Light

In conclusion I say, if you leave this hall with nothing more than a conviction that your love, that your charity, that your mercy, that your courage, that your nobility, that your dignity can allow you to be a light in this world, then brothers and sisters, you can be a hero.

The Prayer of Light

I'd like to conclude by asking all of you to join me in a prayer that was taught to us by our Prophet Muhammad, peace and mercy be upon him. And that is a prayer that we all become filled and enveloped with light in all of its manifestations and mercy, compassion, love and charity and respecting and honoring justice. Those are all manifestations of light. So repeat after me if you will.

O God, O God, Ya Allah, Ya Allah, Ya Allah. O God, make light in my heart. Make light in my vision. Make light in my hearing. Make light to my right and light to my left. Make light before me. Make light behind me. Make light in my nerves, in my flesh, in my blood, in my hair, in my skin, on my tongue. O God, bless me with a light. (Sahih Muslim 763)

Final Benediction

May we all be blessed to be a light and may we all shine that light in our various ways to be a source of mercy, compassion, good, justice, equity and charity in these sometimes dark and perplexing times.

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.