Try to Be Merciful

Try to Be Merciful

By Imam Zaid Shakir

Opening Praise

Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. All praise is due to Allah who has guided us to this path and we would not have been able to guide ourselves had not Allah guided us.

All praise is due to Allah who has revealed the scripture unto His servant and He has made no crookedness therein.

The Hadith Qudsi on Oppression

(Sahih Muslim 2577)

So it's related from Abi Dhar, from the Messenger of Allah, the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him. From those things that the Messenger of Allah relates from his Lord, be He mighty and majestic, that He said, "O my servants, I have forbidden oppression for myself and I have made it between you forbidden, therefore do not oppress one another."

Standards of Justice in Islam

So we don't want to talk about this issue of dhulm or oppression, enough people are doing that, except to say one thing, and that is in assessing what constitutes oppression and what doesn't constitute oppression, we cannot separate what we consider to be oppression or what we consider to be just. We cannot separate our assessment from the standards established by the Divine Law.

Our first consideration is, in any issue, not what the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says about it, not what this or that worldly authority says about it, those are considerations possibly, but the first consideration is what did Allah and His Messenger say about it. And if Allah and His Messenger said such and such is just, there is no worldly authority to declare it to be unjust.

And if Allah and His Messenger said such and such is unjust, or such and such is immoral, there is no worldly authority to say that it's just and that it is moral. And we'll leave it at that.

Adorning Ourselves with Allah's Attributes

The point we want to make is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He mentions to His Messenger (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) that He has a particular characteristic, and that characteristic is that He is just. The opposite of being unjust or oppressive, zalim. He says (يَا عِبَادِي إِنِّي حَرَّمْتُ الظُّلْمَ عَلَى نَفْسِي) "O My servants, I've made oppression forbidden for Myself." So Allah has a characteristic: He forbids Himself from oppression.

And then He says (وَجَعَلْتُهُ بَيْنَكُمْ مُحَرَّمًا) "And I've made it forbidden amongst you." (فَلَا تَظَالَمُوا) "Therefore do not oppress one another." So the point is Allah ta'ala has a characteristic, and then He enjoins us to adopt that characteristic.

And based on this, some of our scholars say: (تَخَلَّقُوا بِأَخْلَاقِ اللهِ) - "Adorn yourself with the character traits of Allah," with the caveat, to the extent humanly possible. So Allah has the perfected degree of any characteristic.

Allah's Perfect Knowledge

Allah ta'ala is (الْعَلِيمُ) - The Knowing. His knowledge is unrestricted. Allah has knowledge of all things at all times. Allah has knowledge of what has been, what is and what will be. Allah has knowledge that is never, is not qualified by forgetfulness. It's not qualified by access. We only know what we have access to.

So we have access to the fact that one and one is two. But no one ever taught us that. So we grew up in some village in the middle of a jungle, and no one there knew the basic, most fundamental principles of mathematics. We might not know that, in that particular formulation. We might intuitively know, if I take one coconut and add another coconut, I have two coconuts. But in terms of the actual structure, one plus one equals two. We never know that. Or two times two equals four. If we didn't have, we don't have access.

Some people, they don't have access, to the fact that in the Arabic language, tree is shajarah. A very basic simple thing, that any Arabic speaker, from two years old on, would take for granted. But how many people in this country, who've never had access to Arabic, never been exposed to Arabic, know if you come up, you walk to, a hundred people, in Santa Clara, San Jose, and you ask one hundred of them, and they're not Muslim, they're not Arabic speakers, and they have a PhD, in software engineering, and they work in this valley, and you say, what does shajarah mean? They start scratching their head.

We only know what we have access to. Allah has access to all knowledge. His knowledge is unqualified, ours is qualified.

Striving for Justice

So there are limitations, to the extent to which, we can adorn ourselves, but we should try. We should try to be just people. We should try to avoid oppression.

Not starting with some issue, involving people halfway around the world. That's important. We should all be outraged, over what's happening in Yemen, for example. It's a disgrace to this religion. It's a disgrace to this

religion, that people call themselves Muslim, and not saying this side or that side. Every side says they're Muslim.

And yet they're destroying their country, they're exposing their children to starvation, they're exposing their elderly people, to premature deaths, and they all say they're Muslims. That's a disgrace, and it should concern us. But our first concern, should be right in our own homes.

Justice to our children, justice to our parents, justice to our wives, justice to our husbands. Because that's where we can have, the most powerful and profound impact, in changing unjust situations. And that's where we usually let it go, while we save the world.

Learning Allah's Names and Attributes

So we should strive, to learn the names, and learn the attributes of Allah. If you look at most, of the significant compilations, concerning the names and attributes of Allah. Imam Al-Ghazali, Al-Maqsad Al-Asna, or Imam Ahmad Zarruq, Al-Maqsad Al-Asna, or Ibn Abdus-Salam, Shajarat Al-Ma'arif Wal-Ahwal, he has a section in there, on the Asma and Sifat of Allah.

And all of them talk about this idea of, Al-Takhalluq, Al-Takhalluq Bi Hadhal Ism, Kadha Wa Kadha. To adorn yourself with this particular name, involves this, that, or the other. So we should try to be, as we said, we should try to be adl, we should try to be just, we should try to be rahman, rahim, we should try to be merciful.

Extending Mercy

And extend our mercy to everyone, in our sphere of influence. Allah's mercy encompasses all over His creation. But our mercy can touch those in our sphere of influence. Our mercy can touch our children. Our mercy can touch our spouses. Our mercy can touch our neighbors. Our mercy can touch our coworkers. Our mercy can touch our fellow citizens. And we should strive, to make sure that we are rahman, and we are rahim, to the extent humanly possible.

Al-Malik - The Sovereign

We should strive to make sure that, we are al-malik, rahman, or rahim al-malik. That we are sovereign, again, to the limited extent humanly possible. And again, Allah ta'ala, people might think these are strange concepts. But I mentioned, I gave you an example from Hadith Qudsi. I'll give you an example from Quran.

He has sovereignty, He has dominion. Say, "O Allah, the possessor of all sovereignty and dominion," but then He says, He gives some of that to us. (تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَاءُ) So He says, He gives dominion and authority to

whomsoever He pleases.

And so, in that realm where Allah has given you a dominion, that dominion might be your home. That dominion might be your business. And your control and your authority over your employees. That dominion might be a class that you teach. And so, you have to exercise that with justice. You have to exercise that looking out for the best interest of your employees, the best interest of your family members, the best interest of those you have authority over. (تُؤْتِي الْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَاءُ) And that's how we adorn ourselves with this quality (الْمُلْكُ)

Al-Quddus - The Pure

(الْقُدُّوسُ، الْمَالِكُ، الْقُدُّوسُ) Linguistically (الْقُدُّوسُ هَذَا بِمَعْنَى الطَّهَارَةِ وَالنَّزَاهَةِ) - Pure to be pure and to be distant. And so, Allah Al-Quddus, He's pure from any qualities, characteristics of His creation. He's pure from any defects. And He's far removed from any likenesses, any equals. So we say (تَنْزِيهُ اللَّهِ قُدُّوسٌ بِمَعْنَى الطَّهَارَةِ وَالنَّزَاهَةِ)

And so, we should try to be pure people. (إِنَّ اللَّهَ طَيِّبٌ وَلَا يَقْبَلُ إِلَّا طَيِّبًا) (Sahih Muslim 01015) - Allah only accepts that which is good and pure.

The Disgrace of Abandoning Our Elders

Some of us, we hear about things that Muslims do, and we scratch our head and we say, what Quran are they reading? What compilation are they reading? Of hadith rather, what compilation of hadith are they reading? I have a friend of mine who runs a shelter for abused women. Not in this state, not the shelter here. In another state.

A family friend. And I talked to her yesterday or the day before yesterday. And she said that Muslims are bringing their mothers and grandmothers 86, 87 years old and dropping them off at the steps of her shelter and then leave and won't even give her one penny to assist in taking care of them.

And these are those Muslims. These are Muslims that look like people in this musalla. This is a fact. You don't believe me, I'll give you her number. Call her up so she can cry to you. How could a Muslim do that? How could a Muslim do that? That's the tip of the iceberg.

How Muslims Tear Each Other Down

Look how Muslims rip each other apart on social media. We did the thing with CNN. The little clip, the 25 influential Muslims talking about something. And the one, the editor of that series said that he never saw a community whose members tear each other down like the Muslims tear each other down. I'm not making it up. You know I'm not making it up.

We should be far removed from that. So we go through these names of Allah. One name is Al Malik, Al Quddus, As-Salam.

As-Salam - Free from Defects

As-Salam, free from any defects. Allah As-Salam is not... Some of us we convert to Islam, we start learning Arabic. One of the first things we learn, As-Salamu Alaikum. And then we learn in these, "Peace be upon you." Which part is the peace? As-Salam, oh Salam, peace. Then we start learning the names of Allah. Rahman, Rahim, scratching our head. Al Malik, Al Quddus, As-Salam. "I know that one, that's the peace."

Allah is not the peace. Allah As-Salam (سَلِيمًا مِنَ الْعُيُوبِ وَالنَّقَائِصِ) - Allah is the one who's safe and protected from any defects or imperfections. That's what As-Salam means. Dar Al-Salam is called Dar Al-Salam Jannah, because the imperfections of the world don't exist there. There's no death, that's an imperfection. There's no disease, that's an imperfection in the world. There's no aging, that's an imperfection in the world. And Dar Al-Salam, those defects won't exist. That's why it's called Dar Al-Salam.

And so the believer should try to be a person who doesn't allow himself or herself to be rendered defective by the defect of jealousy, by the defect of cowardice, by the defect of stinginess, by the defect of slander and backbiting, and also someone who doesn't render their fellow Muslim defective.

The Meaning of Muslim

And this meaning Salam, if we do it linguistically, past tense, present tense, must start. That's how we've learned Arabic. Salima yaslamu salaman. So the root is Salima, the verbal root. Salima. And our Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) when he defines a Muslim, he says: (الْمُسْلِمُ مَنْ سَلِمَ الْمُسْلِمُونَ مِنْ لِسَانِهِ وَيَدِهِ) (Sahih Bukhari 10, Sahih Muslim 40)

This is how we adorn ourselves with As-Salam. This name. The Muslim is the one, the other Muslims are saved from their tongue and their hands. Yeah, the good Muslims in Yemen use Muslims, but acting like Muslims, or Somalia, or Iraq, or Syria, or Afghanistan, all these places where the Muslim is the one pulling the trigger. You say, yeah, but the Americans are selling them the guns and the ammunition.

Then we go back again, the Muslims are the ones stupid enough to spend their money and their treasure to make these fools, and these killers, and these murderers, like Donald Trump rich. The Muslims are the fool to stand in a room with that fool, with a chart saying, these weapons that you stupid Muslims buy to kill and murder each other, give us American jobs. That's a disgrace to this religion.

If I'm wrong, tell me afterwards. You know, people like to come up after "brother in a nice kubba but." So give me the but after. Come up to brother "in a nice kubba but." You know, we call the Muslims stupid for spending billions of their dollars. Our brothers and sisters are starving and living in sewage in their cities with poor infrastructure to buy these weapons to kill each other. "Brother, that's not stupid." So, ahlan wa sahlan. Bismillah. After kubba, after taslim. Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah. Ahlan wa sahlan. Bismillah. I'll listen. MashaAllah. I'll take (الدِّينُ النَّصِيحَةُ) (Sahih Muslim 55).

Al-Mutakabbir - The Supreme

Ar-Rahman, Ar-Rahim, Al-Malik, Al-Quddus, As-Salam, Al-Mu'min, Al-Muhaymin, Al-Aziz, Al-Jabbar, Al-Mutakabbir. Said Ibn Abdus-Salam, he says, when you, Al-Mutakabbir, you think, no, no, there's no way. Muslim can't be Mutakabbir. Then he said, yes, there's a proper takabbur.

He says Al-Mutakabbir (يَتَكَبَّرُ عَلَى الرَّذَائِلِ) - he arrogates himself, she arrogates herself above the vile, petty things. I'm too good for that. "Brother, did you see the post, this guy who's talking about you?" (أَنَا أَتَكَبَّرُ) - I'm above that. I'm not going to respond to that.

So he said, "Brother, he said, your head is so big, it makes the Goodyear blimp jealous." So I'm supposed to say, "Well, tell him his mother's so skinny, she'd go hula-hooping in a cheerio." (هُوَ يَتَكَبَّرُ عَلَى الرَّذَائِلِ) - That's how we adorn ourselves with the name Al-Mutakabbir. (هُوَ يَتَكَبَّرُ عَلَى الرَّذَائِلِ)

Al-Jabbar - The Compeller and Mender

So we have time for one more, Al-Jabbar. Jabbar is a name that has, one way we look at the names of Allah, we say they are Asma'ul Jalal, Asma'ul Jamal. They are names of majesty. Al-Qahhar, Al-Jabbar, Al-Mutakabbir, the mighty. And they are names of beauty. Ar-Rahman, Ar-Raheem, Ar-Ra'oof, Ash-Shakur, Al-Ghafoor. And Jabbar is both.

So in the sense of the one who has the power to compel and enforce his will. He's Jabbar. And in the sense of the meaning of the word we say (يَجْبُرُ الْكَسْرَ) - He mended the break. So Kasr we call Jabira, from this meaning. It protects the wound so it can heal.

And so we should strive in those situations that require us to be firm, to have this quality of Jalal, of majesty. But we should also strive in those situations where we have to heal the broken hearts. And we have to heal the wounded spirits. And we have to heal the destroyed lands and the destroyed people and the destroyed homes and the destroyed fields. That's also Jabbar. One who mends.

Striving to Heal

We have to strive. And we'll end on this note, to heal. We're hurting. And one of the reasons we tend to project harm onto others is a projection of our own pain. It's a projection of our own suffering. It's a projection of our own wounds.

So we have to try to heal each other. We have to try to mend the brokenness that's out there. And that's what a Jabbar means. May Allah give us Tawfiq. May Allah strengthen us. May Allah elevate us.

Seeking Help from Allah

May Allah ta'ala help us. May Allah ta'ala help us. (وَإِذَا اسْتَعَنْتَ فَاسْتَعِنْ بِاللَّهِ) (Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2516) - You seek help

and assistance. Seek it first and foremost from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Ya Allah help us to overcome. Ya Allah help us to be better than what the world has made us. Ya Allah help us to heal the pain and the hurt and the suffering. To mend the divisions, to bridge the divides. Ya Allah we ask you this.

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ وَسَلِّمْ وَبَارِكْ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا وَحَبِيبِنَا وَقُرَّةِ عُيُونِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ وَسَلَّمَ

Al-Khafid and Ar-Rafi' - The Abaser and Exalter

May Allah ta'ala strengthen us, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless us to be people who seek elevation, who seek to be elevated through Your power and not through our weakness. A problem with many of us, we're trying to elevate ourselves through our weakness as opposed to seeking elevation through Allah ta'ala's power. So Allah ta'ala mentions He is also Al-Khafid Ar-Rafi', Al-Khafid Ar-Rafi' - the one who abases and the one who elevates.

And the elevation, so Ahmad Zarruq in his book Al-Maqsad Al-Asna, he says that he has a section, he uses, he says (وَالتَّقَرُّبُ) - we have an Ism, drawing near to Allah with this name he discusses it, adorning yourself and then drawing near. He says we draw near to Allah Ar-Rafi' by doing those things which invite Allah ta'ala's elevation.

The Means to Elevation

So there are two things in that regard. One is humility. Allah ta'ala says, the messenger of Allah (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) he says: (وَمَا تَوَاضَعَ أَحَدٌ لِلهِ إِلَّا رَفَعَهُ اللَّهُ) (Sahih Muslim 2588) - No one humbles themselves for the sake of Allah except that Allah elevates them. So that's the first.

The second is holding fast to the Quran. (وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا) (Quran 3:103) - but that's not the shahid. It's just holding fast to the Quran is something we should do anyway, but what is one of the consequences of that?

(817 Sahih Muslim) عَنْ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ: إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَرْفَعُ بِهَذَا الْكِتَابِ أَقْوَامًا وَيَضَعُ بِهِ آخَرِينَ

Indeed, Allah elevates by this Quran, some people and He debases others. So may Allah bless us to do those two things for a start as means to elevate ourselves and to elevate our communities and to elevate our families and to elevate this ummah: humility and holding and reading and reciting and memorizing and studying the book of Allah within the limits of our situations and our resources.

Closing Du'a

اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِلْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ