The Call for Empathy
It is at a time of hardship and a time of hopelessness, we look around us for mercy or empathy. We look for a hand to be extended to us, a shoulder to carry us, or even a smile to support us. The utmost time that we need mercy is during the day of judgment, and the most magnificent embodiment of mercy that Allah SWT created is that, He Himself, is the most merciful.
The story of the last man to enter Jennah puts us in awe of Allah’s mercifulness. It is narrated that: “The last one to enter Paradise will be a man who will walk once, stumble once and be burned by the Fire once. When he gets past it, he will turn to it and say,‘Blessed be the One Who has saved me from you. Allah has given me something that He has not given to the first and the last.’ A tree will be raised up for him, and he will say,‘O Lord, bring me closer to this tree so that I might shelter in its shade and drink of its water.’Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, will say: “O son of Adam, perhaps if I give you that, you will ask Me for something else.”‘No, O Lord,’ and he will promise that he will not ask Him for anything else, and his Lord will excuse him because he has seen something that he cannot help wanting. So he will keep asking Allah (SWT) to get closer to Jennah as he begins to see more of it and Allah (SWT) will grant him what was supposed to be his last request. Until he gets close enough to Jennah and hears the voices of the people of Jennah and ask Allah (SWT) to let him enter Jennah. Allah (SWT) will say:“O son of Adam, what will make you stop asking? Will it please you if I give you the world and as much again?” He will say:‘O Lord, are You making fun of me when You are the Lord of the Worlds?’
It is narrated that the prophet (PBUH) said: Those who show mercy, Allah SWT will show them mercy. Allah SWT says in the Quran about the Prophet Muhammad PBUH: And we did not send you but as a mercy to mankind. Allah SWT made one of the foundations of the Muslims community is mercy. The prophet PBUH showed that through many of his actions with those who oppressed him.
This life is a life of hardship and tests, and many times, we as individuals need that slight push, that subtle smile, that small encouragement, that small action to help us go through life. We look for that in our brothers and sisters, and we cherish that. It is narrated that when Ka’b Ibn Malik’s repentance was accepted and he was walking into the mosque at the time of the prophet, Talha Ibn Obeid Allah got up and ran to him and hugged him. It is narrated that Ka’b said that: “I swear by Allah that I never forgot this action by Talha”. It is a very small action, yet, it had an enormous impact.
Your small actions can impact someones life more than you can imagine. Your action might be small in your eyes, but its impact is determined by how sincere you are about it, and the hardship the other person is going through. Think about an orphan in one of the countries impacted by the atrocities and cruelness of the world. A child who lost one of his parents or maybe both. A child that does not ask for a candy, or a toy, but just wants the basic necessities of life. For him, $5 or $10 would make the world of a difference for him. It would feed his stomach, warm his heart, and lift some of the weight of the world off his weak shoulders. Yet, the $5 or $10 or $20 means so little to us. If we were driving and it flew out of the car window, we wouldn’t go run after it. We spend it on a fast meal, or a good cup of coffee.
Oh’ Allah, please guide us to be empathetic, to spread mercy, to be a shoulder to grieve on, a smile to change someone’s life, a source of words that will lift someone up, and a venue for the sustenance for those who need it the most. For we Allah, are in dire and desperate need for your mercy. If You do not show us mercy, then who shall!