as for his mercy with his nation, the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, gave the best example ever of showing mercy and kindness to all humans in the different aspects of life.

in worship, he was very keen on making worship easier for his nation and within their capacity.

he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would say to poeple: “do (good) deeds which are within your capacity as allaah never gets tired of giving rewards till you get tired of doing good deeds." [al-bukhaari and muslim]

additionally, he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, repeatedly forbade al-wisaal (fasting continuously without breaking one's fast after sunset or eating before the following dawn). it was narrated that ‘aa’ishah, may allaah be pleased with her, said, “the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, forbade al-wisaal out of mercy to others. people said to him, ‘but you practice al-wisaal!’ he said: ‘i am not like you, for my lord gives me food and drink.’”

[al-bukhaari and muslim]

he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said many times that if he had not found it hard for his followers, he would have ordered them to do certain acts of worship. for example, he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:

• “if i had not found it hard for my followers (or the people), i would have ordered them to clean their teeth with siwaak (tooth stick) for every prayer.” [al-bukhaari and muslim]

• “had i not thought it hard for my followers, i would have ordered them to delay the ‘ishaa’ prayer to one third or the middle of the night.” [at-tirmithi and ibn maajah; al-albaani: saheeh (authentic)]

among the wonderful examples of his mercy and perfect compassion are that he repeatedly preferred his ummah (nation) to himself. that is to say he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would give up a good deed out of his mercy for them, even though he loved to do it, for fear that people might act on it and it might be deemed as compulsory for them. for example, it was narrated that ‘aa’ishah, may allaah be pleased with her, said, “the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would give up a good deed, even though he loved to do it, for fear that people might act on it and it might be made obligatory upon them.” [al-bukhaari and muslim]

it was also narrated that the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said:

• “when i stand for prayer, i intend to prolong it but on hearing the cries of a child, i lighten it, as i dislike to trouble the child's mother.” [al-bukhaari and muslim]

• “had i not thought it hard for my followers, i would not have remained behind any sariyyah (army-unit) but i do not have a riding camel for myself or for them, and it is hard for me that my companions should remain behind me. no doubt i wish i could fight in the cause of allaah and be martyred and come to life again to be martyred and come to life once more.”

[al-bukhaari and muslim]

furthermore, the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, was very keen on making the worldly affairs easier for his nation out of his mercy for them. he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would implore allaah the almighty to have mercy upon them and would warn whomever allaah the almighty put in charge of any of the affairs of his nation not to treat them harshly. in this regard, he, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, would supplicate to allaah, saying: “o allaah, whoever is put in charge of any of the affairs of my ummah and treats them harshly, treat him harshly, and whoever is put in charge of any of the affairs of my ummah and treats them kindly, treat him

kindly.” [al-bukhaari and muslim]

his mercy with his nation in the hereafter is incomparable to any other mercy. on the day every other prophet will say, “myself! myself!” the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, will say:

“o my lord, my ummah! my ummah!” [al-bukhaari and muslim - part of the hadeeth of intercession]

the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, will not be pleased until his ummah has entered paradise.

the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, even preferred his ummah to himself in relation to his invocation that allaah the almighty will accept for him and kept it for his followers on the day of resurrection where there will be a dire need for such an invocation. the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, said: “for every prophet there was an invocation with which he appealed to allaah, and his invocation was accepted (in his lifetime), but i kept my (special) invocation to intercede for my followers on the day of resurrection. every one of my ummaah who died worshipping allaah alone will have a share of it.” [al-bukhaari and muslim]

there are many examples of the mercy and compassion of the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, with the members of his family and with children and the weak people in his ummah.

among these examples are:

it was narrated that anas, may allaah be pleased with him, said, “we went with the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, to the blacksmith, abu sayf, and he was the husband of the wet nurse of ibraaheem (the son of the prophet). the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, took ibraaheem and kissed him and smelled him. later, we entered abu sayf's house and at that time ibraaheem was breathing his final breaths, and the eyes of the messenger of allaah, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, startednshedding tears. ‘abd ar-rahmaan ibn ‘awf said, ‘o messenger of allaah, even you weep!’ he said: ‘o ibn ‘awf, this is mercy.’ then he wept more and said: ‘the eyes are shedding tears and the heart is grieved, and we will not say except what pleases our lord. o ibraaheem, indeed we are grieved by your death.’” [al- bukhaari and muslim]

this special kind of mercy and compassion were not for the children of the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, and his grandsons only but rather it was for all the children of the muslims. it was narrated that asmaa’ bint ‘umays, the wife of ja‘far ibn abi taalib, may allaah be pleased with them, said, “the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, came to our house and called upon the children of ja‘far. i saw him kissing the children of ja‘far and smelling them. then his eyes started shedding tears. i said, ‘is there any news about ja‘far?’ the prophet replied: ‘yes, he was martyred today.’ we all started to weep. then the prophet, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, came back and said: ‘make food for the family of ja’far, for there has come to them something that has absorbed them.’” [abu-daawood, at-tirmithi and ibn maajah; al-albaani: hasan]