35.1 Mercy in the Koranic Sense If one, were asked to name, the dominant characteristic of the Messenger of Allah, one would not hesitate to say mercy. It is a character trait that permeates, all his words, all his actions. The Holy Koran tells him: And We have not sent you except out of mercy to mankind. This is the essence of the Message to Mohamed. Every action, every word was to lead people to be merciful to each other. He used to say, "I was sent as a teacher" and this is what he taught. "Allah has mercy upon the merciful" "You do not truly believe until you desire for your brother (the word in Arabic is used in the sense of your fellow men) what you desire for yourself." "He who relieves a believer of one of the cares of this world, Allah will relieve of one of the cares of the Day of Judgment. He who relieves a man in financial difficulties, Allah will make things easy for him in this world and the eternal. He who shields a Muslim (covers his secrets, weakness, or want), Allah will shield in this world and the eternal. Allah continues to aid His slave so long as this salve continues to aid his brother" Mercy in the Koranic senses is a very great thing. It is not merely compassion or sympathy, but real and active concern. We are told that the mercy of Allah encompasses everything. Hence, every good that comes to man is an aspect of His mercy. Help, guidance, care and forgiveness are different factors of mercy. It is out of His mercy that man is guided out of darkness into the light. Mohamed came with mercy from heaven to bring that dark age of its evil corruptions and superstitions into the light of justice and truth, which are also aspects of Allah’s mercy. The holy verses points out that the Koran was sent down on a blessed day out of your Lord’s mercy. The Messenger used to say "I was sent to complete good character, I was sent to complete gracious character, I was sent to complete righteous character" Again goodness, gracious and righteousness are all aspects of mercy. He says "to completer" because the prophets before him had begun to teach men – it was his job to complete what they had begun.