by Sh Ali Abdur Rahmaan Al Huthaifie

Fellow Muslims! Fear Allaah as He should be feared, for the fear of Allaah increases one in rank and prevents evils and calamity.

Brothers in faith! Life is indeed based upon certain values, an important part of which is mercy. Mercy is a great quality with which noble people are known and it is inherent in human nature. The Messenger of Allaah said, "Allaah divided mercy into one-hundred parts. He released one part of it to the earth by which the creatures are merciful to one another; you see a female horse or she-camel lift up her hoof so as not to trample on her young ones. Allaah then kept the remaining ninety-nine parts with Himself for the Day of Resurrection." (Bukhaarie).

The Almighty Allaah Himself is merciful in a way that suits His Majesty. Mercy is a perfect quality in man by which the powerful protects the weak. In spite of the fact that mercy is inherent in human nature, Islaam also came to confirm and emphasise its importance and enjoin Muslims to be merciful and compassionate, for Islaam is the religion of mercy and its injunctions are made to actualise justice, prosperity, truth and peace for man as they are also made to actualise all acts of worship for Allaah alone and destroy all falsehood and evils. Allaah tells His Messenger, "And We have sent you not but as a mercy to all the worlds."? (Al-Anbiyaa 107).

The Messenger of Allaah also said, "Allaah will show mercy to those who show mercy to others. Show mercy to those on the earth, the One in the heaven will show mercy to you." (Aboo Daawood).

He also said, "Allaah will not show mercy to those who do not show mercy to others." (Bukhaarie & Muslim).

Islaam enjoins mutual showing of compassion between Muslims that is why the Prophet of mercy said, "Whoever does not respect our elders nor show compassion to the young ones is not one of us." (Ahmad)

He also said, "Mercy is not removed from anyone"s heart except he is a wretched one." (Aboo Daawood).

Islaam does not only promote mercy between human beings, it also enjoins that mercy should be shown to animals as well. It commands the Muslims to be compassionate to animals and condemns any act of cruelty towards them. The Messenger of Allaah was in the garden of an Ansaarie man one day. There was a camel in that garden and when the camel saw him it groaned and shed tears. The Messenger of Allaah wiped the tears and it became calm. He then inquired about the owner of the camel and when its owner appeared before him he said, "Do you not fear Allaah in this animal which Allaah has put in your possession? It has complained to me that you starve it." So he rebuked this man for starving his camel.

He also prohibited taking of animals as targets in games and cursed whoever does that. He said while condemning such an act, "Whoever kills a sparrow in vain, that sparrow will cry to Allaah for help on the Day of Resurrection, saying: O my Lord, so-and-so the son of so-and-so killed me in vain and did not kill me for any useful purpose." (An Nasaa"ie).

One of the manifestations of the compassion and mercifulness of Islaam is that it commands the Muslims to treat non-Muslims with justice and forbids them from wronging them. This manifests in numerous sayings of the Messenger of Allaah among which is his saying, "Certainly Allaah will punish those who subject other people to torment in this world."

Brothers in faith! Mankind is in dire need of these lofty and noble Islamic values! How dire is their need for mercy and compassion that can alleviate the sufferings of the distressed and the oppressed ones! Mankind is actually in need of mercy especially in this age that mutual compassion has been relegated to the background and people no longer hear the cries of suffering children and old people but hear only the language of force and arrogance. Allaah says, "O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allaah and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and forgive you your sins. Whoever obeys Allaah and His Messenger has indeed made a great achievement."? (Al-Ahzaab: 70-71).

Brothers in Islaam! It is of the mercy of Allaah and His justice that every man is held responsible for his deeds. In Islaam no one is punished for the misdeed of others either in this world or in the hereafter. Allaah says, "And no bearer of burdens shall bear another"s burden; and if one heavily laden calls for another to (bear) his load, nothing of it shall be lifted, though he be next of kin."? (Faatir: 18).

Brothers in faith! Some sections of western media these days wage and unjust war against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and level unfounded allegations against it in order to smear Islaam and damage its good name. They engage in mischievous acts of instigating people against Islaam and Muslims and turning the good works of this great nation in terms of donation for charity purposes and humanitarian gestures to evil deeds while the whole world is aware that the Kingdom is innocent of all these allegations. As has been already noted, these vicious allegations are meant to damage Islaam and the Muslims. The Almighty Allaah has warned us about this kind of people when He says in His Glorious Book, "Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, but what their breasts conceal is far worse."? (Aal Imraan: 118).

Therefore our advice to these Western media groups is that they should come to their senses and refrain from all these malicious attacks on Islaam and Muslims. Let them face up to reality and abide by the ethics of professional journalism.

As for you, my brothers in faith, the best act in period of tribulations and trials like these is to abstain from wading into them either with words or deeds. That is what our religion commands us. Let no one of us backbite others or speak ill of our leaders and scholars. We should rather pray for them and bear it in mind that their uprightness will be the uprightness of all Muslims. We should assist them to discharge their duties and let us continue to be thankful to Allaah for all His blessings on us.