The Meaning of Rahman and Rahim (The Most Merciful) In The Light Of the Quran and Sunnah
By Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi,
New Age Islam
3 August 2022
Rahman and Rahim: Two
Attributes of Allah's Mercy
Main Points:
1.
Rahman and Rahim
are two attributes as well as names of Allah Almighty.
2.
Rahman is
more powerful and inclusive than Rahim and exclusively used for Allah
Almighty whereas the word Rahim could be used for other than Allah.
3.
Allah Almighty is the
Most Merciful in this world, not just for the believers but also for the
disbelievers, polytheists, and all living beings.
4.
Mercy is an attribute of
God, and so is wrath. To think that Allah created mankind so they could
experience His wrath would be to underestimate Him.
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Rahman and Rahim
are two attributes as well as names of Allah Almighty. They are extreme
adjectives derived from the same Arabic root "R-h-m". Extreme
adjectives are used in the Arabic language to lay emphasis on the excess of an
attribute. Both the words are translated as ‘The Most Merciful or The Most
Gracious. It is plainly clear through the study of the Quran and Sunnah
that Allah Almighty is the Most Merciful in this world, not just for the
believers but also for the disbelievers, polytheists, and all living beings. If
Allah's mercy and grace were not extended to all creatures, the moon, the sun,
the stars, the earth and the sky, the water and the air and other great
benefits of the world would have been denied to disbelievers, polytheists,
misguided, oppressors, disobedient, and transgressors. This is something that
common sense will never hesitate to admit based on its observations and
experiences. All of these people, however, are also Allah's creation, and the
fact that they are reaping the benefits of the world demonstrates that Allah's
mercy is universal, i.e., that this divine mercy extends not just to believers
but also to non-believers, polytheists, and disobedient and wrongdoing Muslims.
Classical interpreters
frequently asserted that Rahman is more powerful and inclusive than Rahim.
The term Rahman, in contrast to the title Rahim, which is
appropriately given to any creature, is said to belong alone to God, according
to them.
Allama Raghib Isfahani
describes Rahmat as follows in his book al-Mufardat:
“Rahman cannot be
used to anyone other than Allah because it means "The One whose mercy
surrounds all," and this meaning cannot be exemplified by anyone other
than Allah. Rahim, on the other hand, can be applied to someone other
than Allah, though it also means "The One who is the Most Merciful." Rahim
is a term used in the Holy Qur'an to describe both Allah the Exalted and His
Messenger (peace be upon him).”
Allah Almighty says of
himself, “indeed Allah is Most Compassionate (Rauf), Most Merciful (Rahim) upon
mankind.” (22:65)
Allah Almighty says of
His beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):
“Indeed there has come to
you a Noble Messenger from among you – your falling into hardship aggrieves
him, most concerned for your wellbeing, for the Muslims most compassionate
(Rauf), most merciful (Rahim).” (9:128)
Allah Almighty also says,
“And We did not send you except as a mercy for the entire world.”
(21:107)
According to traditional
scholars, the holy Prophet was sent as a mercy for everyone in the world,
including believers and unbelievers, and he asked his Ummah to follow
the path of Rahman and Rahim (Most Merciful). The holy prophet's
general mercy benefits both believers and non-believers, but his particular
mercy, such as faith and mystical knowledge, etc., exclusively benefits
believers. Allah says, the prophet “is the kindest and merciful to the believers”
(9:128).
One saying is that Allah
is Rahman in this world because He is Most Merciful to both believers
and unbelievers in this world, while He is Rahim in the Hereafter
because He would only be Merciful to believers in the hereafter and not to
unbelievers. (Isfahani, Al-Mufardat p. 192-191, published by Al-Muktaba
al-Murtazwiyya, Iran, 1342 AH)
In the Holy Quran, Rahman
and Rahim are mentioned numerous times. Rahman and Rahim
are sometimes used to expressly refer to Allah as the Most Merciful for believers.
Similarly, they are sometimes used in generic senses to imply that Allah
Almighty's mercy extends to all of His servants, whether they are believers or
non-believers.
The Holy Qur'an has one
hundred and fourteen Surahs, of which one hundred and thirteen are
recited with Bismillahhir Rahman al-Rahim (in the name of
Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful). This means that all Surahs,
except Surah Tauba, begin in the Name, Rahmani and Rahimi
Attributes of Allah.
Two of Allah's
Attributes, Rahman and Rahim, are something that His slaves must
recall frequently throughout their lives. The Holy Quran mentions Bismillahhir
Rahman al-Raheem in Surah Naml, verse 30. It means that the servants must
absolutely believe in these two characteristics of Allah Almighty. Even during
great acts of worship, Bismillahhir Rahman al-Rahman should be chanted
in order to keep in mind Allah's mercy and grace.
Bismillah or Basmalah
is the short form of Bismillahhir Rahman al-Rahim. The
acronym "Basmalah" or "Bismillah" is commonly
used when an Islamic writer, speaker, or preacher discusses or recalls the
merits of reciting Bismillahir Rahman al-Rahim, but when
it is practically recited in essence; the full Bismillahhir Rahman
al-Rahim is uttered. Therefore, I shall refer to the entire Bismillahir
Rahman al-Rahim by the acronym "Basmalah."
Islam encourages Muslims
to recite Bismillahir (Bismi-Allah-ir) Rahman al-Rahim
before undertaking any good deeds. Because Allah Almighty loves for His
servants to repeatedly remember His name and His mercy, reciting Bismillah
at the beginning of various actions is sometimes commendable (Mustahabb),
sometimes recommended (Sunnah), and sometimes compulsory (Wajib).
Some examples are given as follows:
If one forgot to recite Bismillah
at the beginning of the ritual, they should do so while performing the ablution
(Wuzu). ). It is Mustahabb to recite this phrase in the middle of
the ablution, although it is Sunnah to do it at the beginning. At the
start of meals, it is Sunnah to recite this phrase. It is advised to
recite Bismillah before the commencement of every good and significant endeavour
as well as before commencing any book. It is mentioned in the Fiqh
book “al-Quniyya” that reciting "Bismillah" in every rak'at
is required, and that if someone forgets to do so during any one of the rak'ats
of Salah (Namaz), it is necessary to do the prostration of
forgetfulness (Sajda Sahw). However, the more accurate statement
is that reciting Bismillah in every rak'at and at the start
of ablution (wuzu) is Sunnah.
In addition to the Holy
Qur'an, there are many arguments in the hadiths that make it clear that
the mercy of Allah is common to all servants, believers and unbelievers in the
world.
Allah says:
“… and My Mercy embraces
all things.” [7:156]
According to a hadith,
there was a woman among the prisoners who was searching (for her child). When
she found her child she embraced him and put him to her breast [for milk]. The
Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, ‘Allah is more merciful to His
slaves than this woman is to her child.’” (Sahih Bukhari, 5999, Sahih
Muslim 2754)
The aforementioned hadith
mentions Allah's mercy for His servants (Ibad). Additionally, the term
"Ibad" is all-encompassing and refers to both believers and
non-believers.
The Prophet (peace be
upon him) is reported to have said,
“Allah has one hundred
parts of mercy, of which He sends down one to be shared by the jinn, humans,
animals, and insects. Through this mercy, these beings are able to show
compassion and mercy to one another, as well as kindness to their offspring.
And Allah has reserved a total of 99 portions of kindness for His servants on
the Day of Resurrection.” (Muslim, al-Tawbah, 6908)
In the Hereafter, Allah
will be Rahman and Rahim just as He is in this world. However,
since the Hereafter is mentioned in the Holy Qur'an as a place where the
unbelievers will be punished, this does not indicate that Allah would not be
kind there; rather, His mercy will be kept in the Hereafter, particularly for
the believers. The disbelievers and wrongdoers named in the Holy Qur'an
will suffer punishment as a result of their own harshness and disbelief, as
well as the fact that they consciously disregarded the truth after learning of
it. It is not in conflict with Allah's Attribute of Mercy to punish
disobedience. The examination of the verses in the Holy Qur'an makes it evident
that this is completely in line with justice and fairness.
Mercy is an attribute of
God, and so is wrath. To think that Allah created mankind so they could
experience His wrath would be to underestimate Him. A more accurate statement
would be that God made them so that they could experience His mercy. This
viewpoint is consistent with God's glory. The following Hadith-e-Qudsi
passages underline this reality:
Allah Almighty says, “My
Mercy prevails over My Wrath”. (Sunan Tirmidhi, Hadith:
3543/ Sahih Bukhari, Hadith: 3194, 7422 and Sahih Muslim, Hadith: 2751. Graded
as Sahih Hadith)
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A regular Columnist with NewAgeIslam.com, Ghulam Ghaus
Siddiqi Dehlvi is a Classical Islamic scholar with a Sufi background and
English-Arabic-Urdu Translator.
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URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-spiritualism/rahman-rahim-merciful-quran-sunnah/d/127634