Ar-Raheem

﷽

The second name we will be discussing and learning about is ‘Ar-Raheem’- The Most Merciful, The Most Compassionate

Ar-Raheem is The One who grants even more grace and greater rewards in response to our good actions and high thoughts; the One who greatly rewards those who use the Divine bounties and beneficence in a good way; the One who has mercy on the merciful. Ar-Raheem is the One who bestows His continuous mercy on all of creation and who bestows even more grace and greater rewards in response to good deeds.

Allah calls Himself Ar-Raheem on 93 occasions in the Quran, 112 times in the basmalah. The word ‘Raheem’ also comes from the root raa-haa-meem, which again 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) Obey Ar-Raheem, hold onto the Quran.

‘And He is Merciful to the believers’ [Quran, 33:43]. Allah ﷻ‬ mentions different ways in the Quran to receive His special mercy as a believer. He says: ‘and obey Allah and His Messenger so that you all may receive Mercy [3:132]’. This mercy is for those who try their best to hold on to the guidelines, prohibitions, and commandments mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah. You don’t have to be perfect, you just have to be trying your best and making an effort. Allah showers His mercy upon those who show mercy to others.

2) Strive for taqwa.

‘O you who have believed, have taqwa of Allah and believe in His Messenger; He will [then] give you a double portion of His mercy and make for you a light by which you will walk and forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful’ [Quran, 57:28]. Taqwa can be described as God consciousness, which inspires you to be on guard and eager for actions which please Allah ‎ﷻ‬ and to stay away from sinning. Increasing taqwa can be done in many ways but the easiest I find is to increase the amount of Dhikr you do, just constantly have a sort of ‘dua monologue’ going on in your head. Remember Allah constantly throughout your day and you will be alert to whatever may divert you from Allah, and towards whatever will bring you closer to Him. Ascribe each success, material or spiritual, to Him only, and strive to please Allah in everything you do, big or small. Renew your imaan by reflecting on Ar-Raheem’s creation and remember death by living each day with the knowledge it can happen anytime.

3) Pray four units of prayer before ‘asr.

The Prophet ﷺ said: May Allah have mercy on one who prays four raka’aat before the ‘asr Prayer [At-Tirmidhee].

4) Listen to the Quran attentively.

‘And when the Quran is recited, listen to it with attention, that you may receive mercy’ [Quran, 7:204]. The more you respect and honour the Book of Allah, the more cure, guidance and mercy you will receive through it. The Quran was sent down to us as a mercy, so spend time with it and pay attention to the words of Allah. There’s a different level of peace and contentment that comes when you sit down and read Allahs words so, take some time out, read, understand and reflect and in shaa Allah He will shower His mercy upon you.

5) Turn to Ar-Raheem.

Whenever Ar-Raheem gives you a trial, know that no one can give you a way out but Him, so turn to Him as soon as hardship hits you. ‘And if Allah should touch you with adversity, there is no remover of it except Him; and if He intends for you good, then there is no repeller of His bounty. He causes it to reach whom He wills of His servants. And He is the Forgiving, the Merciful’ [Quran, 10:107]. No matter what sin you commit, Allah ‎ﷻ‬ forgives you if you repent of it. That’s one of the beauties of Al-Ghafoor Ar-Raheem. He is the One who created you and will guide you through life as long as you hold onto Him and ask Ar-Raheem, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate, to ease your trials and give you strength.

6) Ask Ar-Raheem for compassion.

The Prophet ﷺ said: He who is not merciful to our young (people) and who shows no respect to our elderly is not one of us. [At-Tirmidhee] Ask Allah ﷻ‬ to bless you with a soft heart and to enable you to feel compassion towards your relatives, friends, and the whole Muslim nation. The Prophet ﷺ‬ said: ‘The similitude of believers in regard to mutual love, affection, fellow-feeling is that of one body; when any limb of it aches, the whole body aches, because of sleeplessness and fever. [Muslim]’ Show compassion and love towards others and He will show the same towards you

Call upon Allah in your duas using His name, Ar-Raheem and ask Him to bestow his mercy continuously on all that exists. To guide us to hold onto His book and the sunnah of His beloved ﷺ so we may attain mercy and learn to adorn our actions, speech, and thoughts with a deep sense of taqwa. Ask Him to make us turn to Him at all times, in good and bad, and make us compassionate so we may enter through the gates of paradise by His mercy.

May Allah shower his mercy upon you all, jazakAllah khayr for reading this and as mentioned in the previous post, this Ramadan I’m raising funds for much-needed permanent homes in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan, if possible please share and donate to the link below

We often forget and take for granted our blessings, something as little as a roof over our heads, clean drinking water and warm food, others can only dream about. This Ramadan we’re doing our bit to help change that, by building homes for those less fortunate in the impoverished villages of Azad Kashmir. Each home will have 2 Rooms, a Kitchen, bathroom, enough to house 6 people, clean drinking water, electricity and best of all, the residents will have free healthcare for life!

Our aim is to help everyone make the most of this blessed month. Maximising on uplifting our own soul and imaan, whilst lifting others out of hardship, in shaa Allah

With your support we can help improve the quality of healthcare that they receive.

Please click on the link to show your support by contributing to this cause. Zakat applicable

LaunchGood.com/RimshasHomeAppeal

You can also donate via PayPal to: Info@salamcharity.org.uk
Please note down the amount transferred and write a note to the supporting cause: Rimsha’sHomeAppeal – MUSPakSoc

Don’t forget to share this with any friends and family you think might be interested in supporting as well! Don’t hesitate to ask any questions you have via Instagram as well! @muspaksoc @salamcharityuk

Jazak Allah Khair

References: information in this post was collated from understandquran.com and the beautiful names of Allah series on wahiduddin.net.