The True Love & Mercy of the Prophet (Pbuh) for Mankind

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

The love and mercy of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to the believers
is great as the Qur'an testifies when it says:

"(The Prophet) is greatly grieved at your loss and extremely anxious for your
good. For the believers he is full of kindness and rahmah (mercy, love)." (9:128)

The Prophet's (Peace be upon him) love was not limited just to the
believers for he loved all of Allah’s creations. Allah says in the Qur'an:

"We have not sent you (O Prophet) but as rahmah (Mercy) to all the worlds."
(21:107)

Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "The Prophet (Peace be
upon him) was asked to curse the disbelievers. He said, "I have not been sent to
curse people but as a mercy to all mankind." (Muslim)

The Noble Qur’an speaks of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) as a great

favour to the believers:

"Indeed, Allah conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent among
them a Messenger (Muhammad (saws)) from among themselves, reciting unto
them His Verses (the Qur'an), and purifying them (from sins by their following
him), and instructing them (in) the Book (the Qur'an) and Al-Hikmah (the wisdom
and the Sunnah of the Prophet (saws) - i.e. his legal ways, statements, actions,
etc.), while before that they had been in manifest error."
(Qur'an Al-'Imran: 164)

These verses show that his distinctive quality was that he was a blessing
incarnate in word and deed and that he truly was a mercy for mankind and a
great favour upon the believers.

How the Prophet (Peace be upon him) Suffered for Mankind

The blessed Prophet's (Peace be upon him) love for mankind is clear from the
untold sufferings he endured at the hands of his opponents whom he forgave with
such ease after his victory.

When the blessed Prophet (Peace be upon him) started inviting people towards
Islam almost all the people of Makkah opposed him even though they had known
him for all of his life as a man of exceptional integrity and intelligence and a man
who is the most trustworthy and reliable as he was known as “Muhammad the
reliable”.

They used to verbally attack him, jeer at him and insult him. Then they started to
physically hurt him. They would lay thorns in his way and throw garbage and dust
on him. On one occasion he returned with dust still on his head. One of his
daughters rose, with tears in her eyes, to wipe it off. The Prophet (Peace be upon
him) was more hurt to see tears in his daughter's eyes than the terrible
treatment he himself received from his fellow citizens. He comforted her, saying:
"My daughter, weep not, for verily the Lord will be your father's helper."
The blessed Prophet (Peace be upon him) was persecuted on many occasions at
the hands of his opponents and his companions constantly asked him to curse
these people who tried to do the Prophet (Peace be upon him) harm but the
blessed Prophet (Peace be upon him) had so much mercy and did not want
revenge but just wanted the whole of mankind to accept the truth and come away
from the darkness and into the light of Islam! He replied to pressure on him to
curse them by saying, “I have not been sent to lay a curse upon men but to be a
blessing to them.” Even though our blessed Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his
companions continued to get persecuted and treated cruelly and unjustly the
Prophet (Peace be upon him) continued to ask Allah to forgive them and he cried
so much for them because he wanted the whole of mankind to be on the straight
path. (Confirmed in Hadith of Sahih Muslim)

The blessed Prophet (Peace be upon him) out of his love and concern for mankind
went to Ta’if which was situated about sixty miles east of Makkah, it was the
nearest city of importance. Accompanied only by Zayd (Ra), the Prophet (Peace
be upon him) made a tiring journey through barren rocky defiles. He spent ten
days in Ta’if preaching to the tribal chiefs as well as common people. It was a city
full of disbelievers and idol worshippers who were very much set in their ways
and our beloved Prophet (Peace be upon him) out of concern for them saw this as
a great opportunity to try and call as many of them as possible to Islam so that
they could be saved from the fire of Hell.

Our beloved Prophet (Peace be upon him) called on the people to forsake their
idols and false Gods and called them to the oneness of Allah, but the people were
very set in their ways and ignored the Prophet’s (Peace be upon him) calls and
did not want to listen to him. The Prophet (Peace be upon him) tried his best but
the people just were not listening and were very ignorant indeed.

When the Prophet (Peace be upon him) made his way back a group of youngsters
in the area started pelting stones and rocks at our beloved Prophet (Peace be
upon him), They continued until nightfall and our beloved Prophet (Peace be upon
him) bled profusely until the blood made his feet stick to his shoes. Even though
our beloved Prophet bled he and was in pain he continued to say, “O my Lord,
guide my people along the true path, as they are ignorant of the truth.” He had so
much love for the disbelievers imagine how much love he had for the believers.
Zaid tried to shelter and protect the Prophet (Peace be upon him) from the rocks
that were thrown and consequantly received wounds to his head which bled
profusely.

The whole Arsh of Allah (Throne of Allah) shook because the most beloved to
Allah was in pain and constantly crying. Our beloved Prophet (Peace be upon him)
wasn’t crying because of the physical pain of the attack but because of the
concern he had for the disbelievers.

Allah ordered the angel Jibra’il to go and ask the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
what he needed and whatever his beloved asked for do it straight away without
hesitation. So the Angel Jibra’il along with the angel of the mountains that
surrounded the city came swiftly to the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and asked
him what they can do for him.

The angel of the Mountains said to the Prophet (Peace be upon him): "Give me
the command and I shall crush the city between the mountains and the people
will perish along with the city”. The blessed Prophet said (Peace be upon him) “It
is not my duty to take revenge or to destroy the disbelievers but to call them to
the right path, maybe their children will accept Islam one day" and he prayed that
they did.
The city of Ta’if today has not got a single disbeliever. This is due to the mercy
and the love the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had for the disbelievers. He prayed
that if the disbelievers would not accept Islam then at least their children would
accept Islam and the Prophets (Peace be upon him) prayers were answered. The
Prophet (Peace be upon him) could of taken revenge but he was merciful to them
and showed concern and love for them even though they showed hatred and
enmity towards him.

These and many other things did the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) suffer
over a period of many years. He did not have to. Just before he started his
mission to invite the disbelievers to Islam he had everything that a man would
want: health, a prosperous business, a loving wife, fine children, faithful relatives
and friends as well as the trust and respect of his fellow citizens. If he wanted he
could have led as comfortable a life as any in Makkah. But he chose the road of
suffering and hardship. He did so for the love of the very people who ignorantly
persecuted him and for the welfare of the whole of mankind.

The Mercy and Love the Prophet (Pbuh) had for Mankind

Another example of the mercy of our beloved Prophet (Peace be upon

him) is in this hadith:

Anas ibn Malik reports: “Allah’s messenger (Peace be upon him) was sitting in
the Masjid with some of his companions when a Bedouin urinated inside the
mosque. The Prophet’s (Peace be upon him) companions said: ‘What is going on?’
‘What are you doing?’ The Prophet (Peace be upon him) said to them: ‘Do not
interrupt him.’ He called the man and said to him: ‘These masjids are not the
place where one can throw any dirt, urine or stools. They are meant for reciting
the Qur’an, glorifying Allah and prayer.’ He then called for a bucket of water and
he poured it over the urine.” (Bukhari, Muslim).

Our Prophet (Peace be upon him) was the best of character. In this example we
had a complete stranger, doing the worst of actions in the best of places which is
the house of Allah. Yet, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) due to his mercy,
kindness and wisdom was patient, and treated him in the best of ways.

Our beloved Prophets (Peace be upon him) heart was filled with intense love for
all of mankind irrespective of caste, creed, or colour. Once he advised his
Companions to regard all people as their brothers and sisters. He added, “You are
all Adam’s offspring and Adam was born of clay.” He wanted all of his Ummah to
regard themselves as “One” body and if one part of the body was in pain then he
wanted all of us to feel the pain and to help out our brothers and sisters where
ever they maybe.

The blessed Prophet (Peace be upon him) taught us that, “A true believer is the
one with whom others feel secure. One who returns love for hatred.” The blessed
Prophet (Peace be upon him) wanted us not only to treat people well only if they
treat us well but that we be good to those who are not good to us and to not to
ever do wrong to those who harm us. He wanted us to show mercy and
forgiveness and not to be of those who take revenge.

According to another hadith, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) once said, “By
Allah, he is not a believer, by Allah, he is not a believer, by Allah, he is not a
believer, with whom his neighbours are not secure.” This Hadith clearly shows
how much he loved and cared for all human beings. One of the lessons he taught
was that we should live among others like flowers, and not like thorns, without
giving trouble to anybody.

The blessed Prophet (Peace be upon him) never beat a servant, or a woman, or
anyone else. He did, of course, fight for what was right. Yet, when he had to
choose between two alternatives, he would take the easier course, provided it
involved no sin. No one was more careful to avoid sin than he was. He never
sought revenge on his own behalf for any wrong done to him personally. Only if
Allah’s commandments had been broken would he mete out retribution for the
sake of Allah. It was such conduct which gained the Prophet (Peace be upon him)
universal respect even till this day.

Once the Prophet (Peace be upon him) was seated at some place in Madinah,
along with his Companions. During this time a funeral procession passed by. On
seeing this, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) stood up. One of his Companions
said “this funeral is that of a Jew”. The Prophet replied, “Was he not a human
being?”

All these examples show the great love and mercy the blessed Prophet (Peace be
upon him) had for mankind.

Even in his last breaths he only cared for the believers and not the terrible pain
he was going through. How deep was the Prophets (Peace be upon him) love for
us we could never imagine. He uttered: "Ummatii Ummatii, Ummatii" “My
People, My People, My People".

References

http://www.missionislam.com

http://www.islamonline.net

http://www.jannah.org