in ways that are best and most
gracious; for they Lord
knowwth best, who have
strayed from His Path, and
who receive guidance.} (16:125)"
And Imam Ali (a.s) said,
‘Indeed your good-doing to the
enemies and the jealous ones
who scheme against you is
more irritating to them than
your taking an offensive stance
against them, and it is also a
motivation for their
reform.’ [Ghurar al-Hikam, no.
3637]
And again, Imam Ali (a.s) said,
‘Rehabilitate the wrongdoer by
your good deed [towards him],
and indicate towards good
through your good
words.’ [Ghurar al-Hikam,
heno. 2304]
And Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq (a.s)
said: “A person is not
considered one of our Shi’ah if
he proclaims [our virtues] with
his tongue, yet his actions
contradict our actions and
sayings. Our Shi’ah are those
whose tongues utter in
harmony with that which is in
their hearts, and they adhere to
our sayings and act in
accordance with our actions –
those are our
Shi’ah.” [Mutatrafat al-Sara’ir,
p. 147, no. 21]
And again, Imam Ja’far alSadiq (a.s) said: “Call people to
yourselves [i.e. to Islam]
without the use of your tongue
but instead by letting them see
piety, fortitude, prayer and
goodness from you, for indeed
that is true propagation.” [alKafi, v. 2, p. 64, no. 14]
For if we are not merciful
towards others how can we
expect Allah (swt) to be
Merciful towards us?
The Prophet (s.a.w) said, 'The
All-Merciful, Blessed and most
High, has mercy on those who
are merciful (towards others).
Have mercy on the dwellers of
the earth and the [Lord of the]
Heavens will have mercy on
you.’ [Kanz al-`Ummal, no.
5969]
The Prophet (s.a.w) said, 'One
of the inmates of the Fire will
call out: O Affectionate One, O
Liberal Giver, save me from the
Fire. So Allah will command
one of His angels to take him
out that he may come and
stand before Him, and Allah
will ask him, 'Were you ever
compassionate towards a
sparrow?' [Kanz al-`Ummal,
no. 5992]
Imam Ali (a.s) said, 'How I
wonder at the one who hopes
for the mercy of the One above
him and yet himself does not
have mercy on the one below
him.’ [Ghurar al-Hikam, no.
6255]
“Do not judge, and you will not
be judged; do not condemn, and
you will not be condemned;
pardon, and you will be
pardoned…” [Luke: 37]
Furthermore, it is very
important for us to realize that
if we do not have absolute
certainty about a person (such
as umar l.a abu bakr l.a etc etc)
or the Imam (a.s) tells us
directly so and so is our enemy
then it is not upon us to assume
whom Allah swt loves and
Whom Allah swt hates. And
truly if nothing else each of us
stands as a symbol of the
unfathomable vastness of the
mercy of Allah (swt). For many
of us were pulled straight from
the midst of the Dajjal,
SubhanAllah, wa’l
Alhamdullillah, or were
enlightened after having been
in a state of apostasy, therefore,
indeed there is no limit to the
mercy of Allah (swt), and God
Forbid we ever consider
someone to be out of the reach
of the Mercy of Allah (swt).
Thus, we must be careful and
safe guard ourselves from ever
harming or hurting one of the
chosen friends of Allah (swt).
The Holy Prophet (s.a.w) said:
“Verily, Allah has concealed
three things within three other
things: He has concealed His
pleasure within obedience to
Him, and His wrath within
disobedience to Him, and His
chosen friend among the rest of
His creation. So let not any of
you deem any act of obedience
as insignificant, for he does not
know which one of them
conceals Allah’s pleasure
within it. Nor should anyone
deem any act of disobedience
and transgression lightly, for he
does not know which one
conceals Allah’s anger. And let
none of you belittle or derogate