Ar-Rahman

﷽

The first name we will be discussing and learning about is ‘Ar-Rahman’, The Most Lovingly Beneficent, The Most Kind and Giving, The Most Gracious, The Infinitely Good.

Ar-Rahman is The One who continually showers all of creation with blessings and prosperity without any disparity. The One who is most kind, loving and merciful; the One whose endless, loving mercy is perfect and inclusive. The One who is overflowing with the quality of loving mercy and is continually pouring it upon all of creation; the One whose perfect mercy and loving beneficence endlessly embrace all of creation. The One who loves and cherishes all of creation. The One who is most loving, gentle and merciful.

Allah calls Himself Ar-Rahman on 55 occasions in the Quran and 133 times in the basmalah. The word ‘Rahman’ comes from the root raa-haa-meem, which points to four main meanings.

The first meaning is to have gentleness and to love,
The second is to have mercy,
The third meaning is to show favour,
The fourth meaning is to have all that is required for beneficence.

So, how can we live by this name?

1) Do not despair.

No matter how many sins you commit, He can have mercy on you if you just turn to Ar-Rahman. Every mistake or sin is an opportunity and a sign that it’s time to get closer to Him! Whenever you commit a sin, call Him by this name to have mercy on you and remind yourself of this Ayah: ‘Say, O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.’ [Quran 39:53]. Do not be sad, Allah is with those who turn to Him sincerely and He will forgive. Remember that feeling guilt for doing something we shouldn’t have is a blessing in itself, it shows you have the desire to be better in your heart, hold onto that feeling and turn to Allah, He is Ar-Rahman.

2) Be merciful towards others.

Be merciful to not only towards those in need but towards your friends and families as well. The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘Allah will not be merciful to those who are not merciful to the people’. [Al-Bukharee] The beloved of Allah ﷺ gave a simple formula on how to deal with others: Whoever wishes to be delivered from the fire and enter the garden should die with faith in Allah and the Last Day and should treat the people as he wishes to be treated by them. [Muslim] So no matter how big or small, think how you would like to be treated in the same situation. Remember everyone struggles with different things in life, be merciful and understanding and shower your love upon people and Allah will do the same towards you. It goes back to being very simple- treat others how you want to be treated. Our adaab and akhlaaq are a huge part of our faith, our mannerisms towards others say a lot about who we are and serve as dawah to both other muslims and non muslims.

3) Keep family ties.

Be active in being in touch with your family: regularly visit, call, and exchange gifts, and etc. The Prophet ﷺ said: . . The womb (rahm) is derived from the Merciful, so whoever keeps relations with his family, then Allah will keep relations with him [At-Tirmidhee] Be the first to make up after an argument, give them your time and love, listen to them and understand where they’re coming from, be there for them when they’re struggling. The Prophet ﷺ said: It is not permitted for a Muslim to forsake his brother for more than three (days) [Abu Dawud]. It’s important to be that person who makes the effort, even if it’s small just to show you care but even just on a human level, remember at the end of the day our families are human too, they’re not angels and everyone has their own life outside of their house; they will face a lot and they won’t always speak about it, so as a minimum- keep your family in your duas.

4) Be good to your parents.

Back to the previous point but on a daily call upon Ar-Rahman to have mercy upon your parents. Allah says in the Quran: And your Lord has decreed that you not worship except Him, and to parents, good treatment. Whether one or both of them reach old age [while] with you, say not to them [so much as], “uff,” and do not repel them but speak to them a noble word. And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say, “My Lord, have mercy upon them as they brought me up [when I was] small. [Quran, 17:23-24]. Be kind to your parents and again, pray for them.

5) Recognise mercy and be grateful.

Reflect upon Allah’s mercy when you see all the blessings around you; food, water, oxygen. We have so many blessings around us which reflect His mercy, the rain the sunlight, shade on a sunny day. Being able to put food on our tables and eat. When you love someone or are loved, know that this feeling was manifested by the mercy of Allah. Think about the mercy of Ar-Rahman in sending the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to you, and be happy and grateful to have such a merciful Lord. We have blessings all around us and listing them will take forever so, recognise them when you see them, a good idea is to keep a gratitude journal too

Call upon Allah in your duas with Ar-Rahman and you will see His kindness and generosity reflecting within your life, in the smallest or biggest of things. Allah is always there for us and is The Most Lovingly Beneficent, The Most Kind and Giving, The Most Gracious, The Infinitely Good.

May Ar-Rahman shower His mercy and kindness upon you all, may He enable you to see the blessings in life and fill your hearts with peace and make you of those who show mercy towards others. May He always love you and accept your duas and keep you close to Him. I pray Allah rewards your intentions and makes you of those who know Him.

JazakAllah khayr for reading this, I pray it has benefitted you; please share with anyone else it may benefit too.

References: the information in this post was collated from understandquran.com and the beautiful names of Allah series on wahiduddin.net, parts of it are from myself but this series is just me collecting and reflecting on the information I learn, editing it so it’s easy to understand and refer back to then sharing it with you guys so you can benefit too in shaa Allah.