20. Mercy

20. Mercy

chapter 174. The Most Merciful of those in the earth

372. ‘Umar was heard to say, “Anyone who does not show mercy will not be shown mercy. Anyone who does not forgive will not be forgiven. Anyone who does not turn in repentance will not be turned to nor will he be protected or guarded.”

373. Mu’awiya ibn Qurra reported that his father said, “A man said, ‘Messenger of Allah, I was going to slaughter a sheep and then I felt sorry for it (or ‘sorry for the sheep I was going to slaughter’).’ He said twice, ‘Since you showed mercy to the sheep, Allah will show mercy to you.'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The narrations regarding showing mercy are general and so, they may be perceived to refer to the Muslims alone or to human beings alone. However, this narration shows that the ruling about showing mercy is more encompassing; it includes the humans and other animals such as the beasts, birds amongst others. Imam Muhammad Naasiruddeen al-Albaanee (الله رحمه (has compiled some narrations in a section titled, Being Kind to Animals in his masterpiece, Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth is-Saheehah no. 20 to 30 which demonstrate the fact that the Messengerﷺ was a mercy to all. Also, see Chapter 176 below.

374. Abu Hurayra said, “I heard the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, the truthful confirmed one, Abu’l-Qasim, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, ‘Mercy is only removed from the one who is destined for wretchedness.”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary: The one from whose heart mercy is removed does not show mercy and so, will not receive mercy from the Most Merciful. This makes clear, the aspects of his failure. Therefore, it is obligatory to show mercy to oneself and to those on the earth to receive Allah’s mercy and be successful. May Allah make us among His merciful servants.Amin.

375. Jarir reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Allah will not show mercy to a person who does not show mercy to other people.”

chapter 175. Mercy towards the family

376. Anas ibn Malik said, “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the most merciful of people towards members of his family. He had his son (Ibrahim) suckled in part of Madina and the husband of his wet-nurse was a blacksmith. We used to go to him and the house would be full of smoke from the bellows. He would kiss the child and take him in his lap.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The Prophetﷺ was most kind to his family, and in him you have a perfect example to follow. Being merciful to one’s family is not restricted to providing them with the needs of maintenance and accommodation; rather, it includes other things such as really paying attention to their education and general upbringing, sincerely loving them, overlooking their weak areas, and preventing and taking away their distress and agitations.

377. Abu Hurayra said, “A man came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with a child which he began to embrace. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said. ‘Do you show mercy towards me?’ ‘Yes,’ the man replied. He said, ‘Allah is more merciful towards you than you are towards this child. He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.;:
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: This narration encourages kissing children, and that doing so is from soft-heartedness. One of the ways to correct the one who errs is to point out the error and mention the evil in it. The hadeeth also points to the fact that the actions of the limbs impact upon the soul. That is, whoever does not show mercy will not be shown mercy by Allah, he will not be rewarded by the Most-Merciful for being merciful. The Prophet’sﷺ love and care for children and his maintenance of the ties of kinship is shown in this narration. It also mentions the virtue of al-Hasan. The hadeeth shows the modesty of the Prophetﷺ and his love for children, for he was kind to al-Hasan ; he placed him on his shoulder and supplicated for him. It is from the Sunnah to love al-Hasan and al-Husain; but as our love for the Messengerﷺ must be within the limits of the Sharee’ah, we must not overstep the proper limits of the Sharee’ah also, in our love for al-Hasan and al-Husain and any other creature: “Allah loves not the trangressors”

chapter 176. Mercy to animals

378. Abu Hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “One day a man became very thirsty while walking down the road. He came across a well, went down into it, and drank and then climbed out. In front of him he found a dog panting, eating the dust out of thirst. The man said, ‘This dog is as thirsty as I was.’ He went back down into the well and filled his show, putting it into his mouth (in order to climb back up) and then gave the dog water. Therefore Allah thanked him and forgave him.” They said, “Messenger of Allah, will we have a reward on account of animals?” He said, “There is a reward on account of every living thing.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: This man’s saying, This dog is as thirsty as I was is evidence that he was motivated by the sincere concern for the condition of the dog and eagerness to show it compassion. The intensity of his concern and eargerness is further evinced by his enduring the difficulty of climbing back up the well which he did holding his sock in his mouth. As regards the Prophet’s saying, shakara Allahu lahu translated as Allah thanked him, Imam an-Nawawee (الله رحمه (said, “It means: He accepted his deed, rewarded him and forgave him.” The hadeeth teaches being kind to people, for if kindness to dog earned the man Allah’s forgiveness, then showing kindness to a Muslim earns far greater rewards. It also shows that Allah’s mercy is extensive and that no good deed should be considered worthless.

379. ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar reported that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “A woman punished her cat by imprisoning it until it died of hunger and because of it, she entered the Fire. It was said and Allah knows best: ‘You did not feed it nor give it water when you imprisoned it nor did you release it and let it eat from the plants of the earth.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: This contains proof that it is prohibited to imprison animals and deny them food, and that it is permissible to keep a pet on the condition that it is taken care of.

380. ‘Abdullah ibn al-‘As reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Show mercy and you will be shown mercy. Forgive and Allah will forgive you. Woe to the vessels that catch words (i.e. the ears). Woe to those who persist and consciously continue in what they are doing.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: That the one who shows mercy is also shown mercy and that the one who pardons is granted pardon by Allah the Most Merciful are separately authentically reported from the Prophetﷺ in other narrations. They all exhort towards being merciful and forgiving. We ask Allah to grant us His mercy and pardon. From the worst of sinners are those who hear admonitions but fail to keep them in mind; when they remember them, they still disobey Allah’s injuctions consciously, being audacious. Such tendencies lead dangerously to a person’s complete abandonment of Islam – and Allah Alone grants refuge.

381. Abu Umama that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Anyone who shows mercy, even to an animal meant for slaughtering, will be shown mercy by Allah on the Day of Rising.”
Grade: Hasan (Sound)
Commentary: The narrations regarding showing mercy are general and so, they may be perceived to refer to the Muslims alone or to human beings alone. However, this narration shows that the ruling about showing mercy is more encompassing; it includes the humans and other animals such as the beasts, birds amongst others. Imam Muhammad Naasiruddeen al-Albaanee (الله رحمه (has compiled some narrations in a section titled, Being Kind to Animals in his masterpiece, Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth is-Saheehah no. 20 to 30 which demonstrate the fact that the Messengerﷺ was a mercy to all. Also, see Chapter 176 below.

chapter 177. Taking an egg from a small bird

382. ‘Abdullah reported that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, stopped in a place and then someone took a bird’s eggs and the bird began to beat its wings around the head of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He asked, “Which of you has taken its eggs?” A man said, “Messenger of Allah, I have taken its eggs.” The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Return them out off mercy to the bird.”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: The narrations regarding showing mercy are general and so, they may be perceived to refer to the Muslims alone or to human beings alone. However, this narration shows that the ruling about showing mercy is more encompassing; it includes the humans and other animals such as the beasts, birds amongst others. Imam Muhammad Naasiruddeen al-Albaanee (الله رحمه (has compiled some narrations in a section titled, Being Kind to Animals in his masterpiece, Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth is-Saheehah no. 20 to 30 which demonstrate the fact that the Messengerﷺ was a mercy to all. Also, see Chapter 176 below.

chapter 178. Birds in cages

383. Hisham ibn ‘Urwa reported that Ibn az-Zubayr was in Makka and the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were carrying birds in cages.
Grade: Da’eef (Weak)

384. Anas said, “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, came in and saw a son of Abu Talha’s called Abu ‘Umayr. He had a sparrow which he used to play with.” He said, “Abu ‘Umayr, what happened to (or where is) the little sparrow?'”
Grade: Saheeh (Authentic)
Commentary: Hafidh Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalaanee (الله رحمه (mentioned in his commentary of this hadeeth in Fath al-Baaree that Abu l-’Abbass Ahmad bin Abee Ahmad at-Tabaree (الله رحمه ,(a great Shafi’ee scholar of Islamic jurisprudence had compiled the various wordings and chains of this hadeeth, drawing the benefits in them in a separate volume. From the benefits mentioned by at-Tabaree as cited by Ibn Hajar is that: “the hadeeth is evidence for caging a bird or something like that or clipping some of the feathers of the bird since at least one of them both was the case here, and whichever of them it was actually, the other follows it in ruling”