Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD

Introduction

The Qur’an proclaims a message centered on mercy and compassion. In fact, classical and modern scholars note that the Arabic root for mercy (R-Ḥ-M, raḥmah) appears over 300 times in the Qur’an, underscoring that compassion is “the dominant theme of God’s message” thequran.love. Nearly every chapter of the Qur’an (113 out of 114) begins with the verse “In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy,” an invocation that frames all revelation in divine compassion. God even declares in the Qur’an, “My mercy encompasses all things” (Qur’an 7:156) and “He has taken it upon Himself to be merciful” (Qur’an 6:12) – powerful assurances that mercy is intrinsic to God’s relationship with creation islamawakened.com catholicculture.org. Given this theological backdrop, it is no surprise that the Qur’an repeatedly calls for humans to live with compassion. Far from being a secondary virtue, compassionate living is presented as a core expression of faith, the very “litmus test” of one’s piety and devotion to God thequran.love thequran.love.

Yet this central Qur’anic message of compassion is often overlooked. Extremists who twist Islam into a harsh ideology and Islamophobes who focus only on violence obscure the reality that the “compassionate teachings of the Holy Qur’an are lost to the ordinary, non-Muslim observer.” thequran.love In truth, the Qur’an envisions humanity as one family under one God, bound by universal values of mercy, kindness, and justice. As we will see, the Qur’an contains hundreds of verses exhorting believers to treat others with empathy, charity, forgiveness, and gentle concern. The ethical paradigm is clear: ritual acts of worship mean little if they do not transform the believer into a source of mercy for those around them. In the Prophet Muhammad’s words, “Allah has no mercy on one who has no mercy for others” thequran.love. We will explore how the Qur’an makes compassion the guiding principle in all relationships – with family and neighbors, with the vulnerable in society, even with one’s enemies – and how this theme is amplified by classical commentary and the Prophet’s own teachings.

Below, we preserve the structure of a classic compilation of Qur’anic verses about compassionate living, while expanding it with context from tafsīr (Qur’anic exegesis) and relevant Hadith (Prophetic sayings). Through these verses and commentaries, a portrait will emerge of an Islamic ethos in which mercy is the ethos, not just an ideal. The evidence will overwhelmingly show that compassion is not only encouraged but in fact mandated by God as the defining trait of true faith.

(Note: All Qur’anic translations are by M.A.S. Abdel Haleem. Verse numbers do not count the prefatory “Bismillah.”)

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