Mercy to All the Worlds, Not to Just One World
Don’t believe me? Consider this statement from God in the Qur’an:
Wa Maa Arsalnaaka Illaa Rahmatan Lil ‘Aalameen!
Just what in the world does this most noble and glorious Aayat of the Qur’an mean?
What is Rahmat?
We know Allah is Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim: the embodiment of all love and compassion and mercy – ever-present and ever-flowing. But what is Rahmat?
What are some of the dimensions, aspects and manifestations of God’s love and of his beneficence, compassion and mercy – his Rahmat that Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, embodies into this world, and as an embodiment of which God Almighty sent him into this world?
And what are all these worlds – plural – that God is referring to? Is that reference to all of God’s creation? Is the entire creation a reflection and an expression of God’s eternal and all-compassing love?
And just what is meant by Al-‘Aalameen – world after world after world of his creation?
How many worlds are there that the Qur’an is talking about here?
I thought the world was all one thing and there was only one world. And now God seems to be saying in the Qur’an that there are multiple worlds – unlimited number, kind and category of them.
And now Allah seems be further saying that Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, is the intersection – the point of contact and interface – between God on the one hand and all of God’s creation on the other hand: world after world after world of creation.
Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam!
So that is the man Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, we are talking about.
Of most noble and unblemished birth and lineage in his own society – and the world – he grew up in the heart of a morally compromised culture and society as a most moral individual that society and that culture ever knew.
And they all – the whole society – gave loud and unambiguous testimony to this effect: They conferred upon him, in his youth and early adulthood and until the ripe, rich age of 40, the unprecedented titles of Al-Ameen and As-Swaadiq: the Most Trustworthy and the Most Honest One.
Meaning, most trustworthy in his conduct and character and most truthful and trustworthy in his speech and utterances!
So much so, he ended up becoming their Public Bank, in the sense they all brought their valuables for safekeeping with him. This was one man in society they could trust with everything precious they ever possessed.
What a powerful and living testimony to his noble, honorable and upright character!
Finest Man in Society – and in the World
And he was kind and gentle beyond description – just as God says in the Qur’an that he was sent down into this world as a Mercy for All the Worlds – and not just as a Mercy for Mankind.
True to that description, he never abused or insulted anyone; he never scolded or reprimanded even his servants; and he never broke a promise.
The community’s wealthiest and most well-connected lady sought his hand in marriage and married him.
His wisdom and sagacity were such that his people sought out his advice in all difficult matters and they made him the arbiter of all their disputes and quarrels. And how quick to quarrel and how prone to senseless bloodshed they were!
This was Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam – the finest man in all of Arabia. And the finest man they knew – and in fact the finest man the whole world had ever produced.
What Was the Fight All About?
So, why did they turn so suddenly and so completely against him – after giving all kinds of testimony all their lives to his being the finest and nicest and most lovable man anyone ever knew?
Wasn’t this then, and isn’t this now, a relevant question? It sure was and is and the answer lies in that most amazing Book he brought and in that most wonderful message he preached – the message of No God but God: La Ilaha Illah Allah!
That was what this fight was all about. It was not about this or that worldly gain, even though some powerful leaders and people of wealth such as Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab saw their fight with Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, in that light.
So, the finest man with the finest message, right in their own midst and they decide to fight him tooth and nail and conspire to destroy him and his mission? How much more clear does the choice between Right and Wrong and between Good and Evil ever get?
The Fight Was about God
What the non-believers of Makkah did not understand was this one simple truth: that this fight was not about land or wealth or race or tribe, but rather, this fight was about God.
And that was what Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, understood so well. That is why he was crying his heart out and begging God and pleading with him saying: I have done everything you wanted me to do; this is the handful of people who responded to my call; and here they are, lined up in front of you.
“If this little band of people is destroyed,” he cried addressing God repeatedly, “Then no one shall ever worship you on this earth again.”
And how right he was!
It is amazing how much of the world this unlettered man from the forbidding sands of Arabia knew — and understood. It was a full 300 years since the Christian priests and power-holders, the last custodians on earth of God’s last and eternal message of “No God but God!” meeting in a Grand Council in Nicaea, Byzantium, had decided to bury that message deep in Lake Iznik.
That was in the year 325 of the Christian Era in the First Council of Nice.
