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Mercy and iḥsān
God says of Himself: "My mercy encompasses all things" (7:156), and the Prophet (pbuh) was sent "as a mercy to the worlds" (21:107). Iḥsān — doing things beautifully, as if you see God — turns mercy from a feeling into a way of acting, down to how an animal is slaughtered.
وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَٰكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَٰلَمِينَ١٠٧
Transliteration: wamā arsalnāka illā raḥmatan lil'ʿālamīna
And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds.
Translation: Saheeh International
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And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." [Allah] said, "My punishment - I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things." So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses - 7:156
Arabic text and transliteration
۞ وَٱكْتُبْ لَنَا فِى هَٰذِهِ ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ إِنَّا هُدْنَآ إِلَيْكَ ۚ قَالَ عَذَابِىٓ أُصِيبُ بِهِۦ مَنْ أَشَآءُ ۖ وَرَحْمَتِى وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَىْءٍ ۚ فَسَأَكْتُبُهَا لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ وَيُؤْتُونَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَٱلَّذِينَ هُم بِـَٔايَٰتِنَا يُؤْمِنُونَ
wa-uk'tub lanā fī hādhihi l-dun'yā ḥasanatan wafī l-ākhirati innā hud'nā ilayka qāla ʿadhābī uṣību bihi man ashāu waraḥmatī wasiʿat kulla shayin fasa-aktubuhā lilladhīna yattaqūna wayu'tūna l-zakata wa-alladhīna hum biāyātinā yu'minūna
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So by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him]. 3:159
Arabic text and transliteration
فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْ ۖ وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ ٱلْقَلْبِ لَٱنفَضُّوا۟ مِنْ حَوْلِكَ ۖ فَٱعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَٱسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ وَشَاوِرْهُمْ فِى ٱلْأَمْرِ ۖ فَإِذَا عَزَمْتَ فَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ
fabimā raḥmatin mina l-lahi linta lahum walaw kunta faẓẓan ghalīẓa l-qalbi la-infaḍḍū min ḥawlika fa-uʿ'fu ʿanhum wa-is'taghfir lahum washāwir'hum fī l-amri fa-idhā ʿazamta fatawakkal ʿalā l-lahi inna l-laha yuḥibbu l-mutawakilīna
If you want to go deeper
5min read
What it means
Raḥma. The root r-ḥ-m gives raḥma (mercy) and raḥim (womb). The two names of God at the start of almost every sura, al-Raḥmān and al-Raḥīm, both come from it; they are usually translated "the Entirely Merciful" and "the Especially Merciful".
Iḥsān. From ḥ-s-n, "beauty, goodness". Iḥsān means doing something well and beautifully. In the Hadith Jibril it is the highest level of religion (below).
What the Quran says
"My mercy encompasses all things" — and the clause after it (7:156). The verse is a dialogue. Moses (pbuh) prays: "And decree for us in this world [that which is] good and [also] in the Hereafter; indeed, we have turned back to You." God answers: "My punishment — I afflict with it whom I will, but My mercy encompasses all things. So I will decree it [especially] for those who fear Me and give zakah and those who believe in Our verses" (7:156), from the Meccan Sura al-Aʿraf. So the verse makes two claims: mercy reaches everything, and a special, written mercy is for those with taqwa (God-consciousness). Ibn Kathir says the first phrase "testifies to His encompassing mercy", and glosses the second: "I will ordain My mercy for them, as a favor and kindness from Me to them." He cites a hadith (from Salman, recorded by Imam Ahmad and Muslim): "Allah… has a hundred mercies", of which He "has kept ninety-nine mercies with Him for the Day of Resurrection." On this reading, everything receives some of God's mercy in this world, and the fullest mercy of the Hereafter is promised to those who turn to Him.
Gentleness as the source of the Prophet's influence (3:159). "So by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter" (3:159). This Medinan verse comes in the passage about the battle of Uhud, where some of the Prophet's (pbuh) own followers had disobeyed orders and fled. The verse tells him to pardon them, pray for them, and still consult them.
"A mercy to the worlds" (21:107). "And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds" (21:107), Meccan. "The worlds" (al-ʿālamīn) is the same word as in "Lord of the worlds": all creation, not only Muslims.
What the Prophet (pbuh) taught
The definition of iḥsān. In the Hadith Jibril, the angel Gabriel, appearing as a man, asked the Prophet (pbuh) about Islam, faith and iḥsān. Of iḥsān he said: "That you worship Allah as if you are seeing him, and even though you do not see Him, [you know] He sees you" (Sahih Muslim 8; Sahih al-Bukhari 50, as given by Hadith Answers). Iḥsān is living with the awareness that God sees — and so doing everything as well as you can.
Iḥsān in everything, even slaughter. Shaddad ibn Aws (ra) reports: "Verily Allah has enjoined goodness to everything; so when you kill, kill in a good way and when you slaughter, slaughter in a good way. So every one of you should sharpen his knife, and let the slaughtered animal die comfortably" (Muslim 1955a Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)). "Goodness" here translates iḥsān. The hadith applies it to the moment where mercy seems least present — taking a life — and requires care even there.
Mercy to enemies: the day of Ṭāʾif. ʿAʾisha (ra) asked the Prophet (pbuh) whether he had faced a day harder than the battle of Uhud. He said the worst was "the day of ʿAqaba when I presented myself to Ibn ʿAbd-Yalail bin ʿAbd-Kulal and he did not respond to my demand" — the leaders of Ṭāʾif had rejected him. "So I departed, overwhelmed with excessive sorrow." At Qarn al-Thaʿalib he saw Gabriel in a cloud, with the angel of the mountains, who said: "O Muhammad! Order what you wish. If you like, I will let Al-Akh-Shabain (i.e. two mountains) fall on them." He replied: "No but I hope that Allah will let them beget children who will worship Allah Alone, and will worship None besides Him" (Bukhārī 3231 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)). Offered revenge on people who had just humiliated him, he chose hope for their children.
Mercy first. "When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in His Book which is with Him on His Throne, 'My Mercy overpowers My Anger'" (Bukhārī 3194 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)).
How scholars have understood it
Readers asked for al-Ghazali and Ibn al-Qayyim on mercy. Al-Ghazali's al-Maqṣad al-Asnā (on the names of God, translated by David Burrell and Nazih Daher) discusses al-Raḥmān and al-Raḥīm, and what share of each name a human being can have; Ibn al-Qayyim wrote widely on mercy. Neither text was read, so neither is quoted.
The law: what the four schools hold
Slaughter (dhabḥ). Muslim 1955 is the basis of the jurists' rules that the knife be sharp and the animal not be made to suffer needlessly. How each of the four schools details this (for example, not sharpening the knife in front of the animal, not slaughtering one animal in sight of another) has not yet been consulted in named works.
What research shows
No research specifically tests the Islamic teaching on mercy, and studies of compassion have not yet been consulted. This page does not claim scientific support.
In daily life
Iḥsān in ordinary work. Do the task as if it will be seen by the One who sees everything: the report no one will check, the repair no one will inspect, the meal for a guest.
Mercy to those who wronged you. You are not required to trust them again (see "Forgiveness and anger"), but you can hope for their good, as the Prophet (pbuh) did at Ṭāʾif.
Mercy to animals. Feed them, do not overload them, and never cause needless pain (Muslim 1955).
For parents. Correct children without harshness: 3:159 says harshness drives people away. Pardon, pray for them, and consult them about what concerns them.
For the heart and mind
If you feel beyond God's mercy, 7:156 says it "encompasses all things", and the hadith says God kept ninety-nine parts of it for the Day of Resurrection. Turning back to God, which is what Moses (pbuh) does in the verse ("we have turned back to You"), is the door the verse names.
If someone who claims to be religious has been harsh with you, that harshness contradicts the example the Quran praises (3:159).
Questions readers ask next
How does "My mercy encompasses all things" fit with eternal punishment, and with the second half of 7:156?
Ibn Kathir reads the first phrase as mercy reaching everything, and the second as the special, written mercy for those with taqwa. Whether mercy will finally reach even those in Hell is a long-debated question, discussed on the page on eternal Hell.
Was the Prophet (pbuh) merciful to his enemies?
At Ṭāʾif he refused revenge and hoped for their descendants (Bukhārī 3231 Ṣaḥīḥ (sound)); after Uhud he was told to pardon his own fleeing followers (3:159).
What do iḥsān, al-Raḥmān and zakāh mean?
Iḥsān: worshipping as if you see God, and doing everything well. Al-Raḥmān: the Entirely Merciful. Zakāh: the obligatory annual alms.
How does mercy fit with harsh punishments and war?
The tradition holds that justice and mercy both belong to God, and that law includes punishments; the pages on the Prophet's wars and on justice discuss these. This page does not claim the tension is easy.
What is the full Hadith Jibril definition of iḥsān?
"That you worship Allah as if you are seeing him, and even though you do not see Him, [you know] He sees you."
How do jurists apply Muslim 1955 in slaughter?
It is the basis for requiring a sharp knife and avoiding needless suffering; school-by-school detail has not yet been checked.
Sources
- Saheeh International via the site's Tanzil data — 21:107, 7:156, 3:159, 16:90.
- Ibn Kathir, Tafsir (abridged English), on 7:156, https://surahquran.com/tafsir-english-aya-156-sora-7.html.
- Hadith Jibril: Sahih Muslim 8 and Sahih al-Bukhari 50, as given by Hadith Answers, https://hadithanswers.com/hadith-jibril/.
- Sahih Muslim 1955a (sunnah.com), https://sunnah.com/muslim:1955.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 3231 (via hadithunlocked.com), https://hadithunlocked.com/bukhari:3231.
- Sahih al-Bukhari 3194 (sunnah.com) — "My Mercy overpowers My Anger".
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 6000, 3467; Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1955, 2752