- Multireligious Institute on Mercy
Bismillah ar-Rahmân ar-Rahîm, “In the name of God, the Merciful in Transcendence, the Compassionate in His Immanence,” is the formula that opens the surahs of the Quran—the chapters of divine revelation transmitted in the form of a book, a sacred text, intended for ritual recitation by Muslims. Through this formula, Muslims invoke the Merciful and the manifestation of His mercy, not only during ritual prayers, but also when rising and beginning the day, before meals as a sign of gratitude, and in traditional greetings among loved ones and other members of the Islamic community.
There is, without a doubt, divine mercy toward those who open themselves to the gift of faith and to divine provision. Indeed, every heavenly and earthly blessing comes from the Lord of the worlds, who provides for the spiritual and material needs of His creatures in accordance with the perfect measure established by His knowledge.
But above all, there is a fundamental plane that transcends manifestation and knows no reality other than the divine reality: the essence of God prior to creation and independent of creation, the divine attributes considered in and of themselves, prior to and independent of their radiance toward creatures. On this level, God, Allah, is merciful in Himself and toward Himself, for the ontological nature of God implies mercy.
In a second phase—where the sequence is less chronological than ontological and logical—God turns His mercy toward His creatures; it radiates throughout the worlds like sunlight, which bestows light, warmth, and life upon every corner of the world. God makes men and women partakers of His knowledge and beneficiaries of His gifts. But men and women are endowed with a unique responsibility in this world, for they were created in the image and likeness of God or, as an Islamic tradition states, “in the form of the Merciful.” Men and women retain within themselves this divine nature in which they were formed, and in this we can recognize the dynamic of divine mercy, which is God’s mercy toward Himself through the mediation of creatures and believers. Like one mirror facing another, blessings are reflected from God to God through humanity, which ultimately overcomes the illusion of its own individual autonomy in this sublime “play of mirrors” where only the divine presence remains.
The attribute of God, ar-Rahmân, the Most Merciful, is one of the ninety-nine names of God; it therefore has its origin before creation itself, subsequently manifesting as a quality consubstantial with the world and with life—a quality that governs the relationships of creatures with their Lord and the relationships among creatures themselves.
As the Holy Quran states, mercy is a commandment that God has laid upon Himself: “Say: ‘To whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and on earth?’ Say: ‘To God! He has prescribed mercy for Himself’”; “And when those who believe in Our Signs come to you, say to them, ‘Peace be upon you! God has prescribed Mercy for Himself.’”
Mercy is therefore a divine attribute, a fundamental principle that is not limited to the manifestation of creation or to the characteristics of individual existence, and it cannot be equated with or reduced to the human emotions of compassion or empathy. Although it also operates on all these levels of reality, mercy is first and foremost a divine reality, then a spiritual radiance, and finally also a generous aid that comes from the Lord to His servants: He alone, however, knows the ways, the times, and the recipients of His mercy.
God’s mercy is present even when a person seems to be going through difficult times. God is never absent; He is not distant; He is not distracted. The immensity of divine mercy is such that it protects creatures from their own expectations, from their own opinions about what would be desirable for them, and from their own unconscious demands. The mercy of the Lord of the worlds is sometimes expressed precisely in the fact that He does not grant the believer’s prayers or that He treats His servants with apparent severity: for God alone knows what is good and what is bad for each of His creatures.
While it is wrong to equate God’s mercy with the fulfillment of one’s own real or imagined needs, it is equally wrong to fall into the opposite perspective and recognize divine love only in pain or hardship. The Islamic perspective—and more generally any authentically religious perspective—rejects, in any form whatsoever, the passionate worship of suffering, sought after as a sign of a special divine favor.
In both cases, it comes down to an inability to see and experience God’s presence, action, and mercy in all their forms: in joy as well as in sorrow, in ease as well as in hardship, in wealth as well as in poverty.
God’s Mercy is manifested through the three dimensions of faith, knowledge, and sustenance, as well as in the pluralism of religions, which results from the providential succession of Revelations.
The gift of faith is an act of God’s mercy toward humanity. A gift, precisely: a generous turning of God toward His creatures. From a higher perspective, one more in keeping with reality, faith does not involve a human choice, but rather the acceptance of the divine will. One does not choose to believe individually and autonomously; one accepts the divine gift of faith. The word “Islam,” moreover, has among its primary meanings that of “acceptance” and denotes “submission to God in peace.”
The Islamic declaration of faith, the shahada, is the first pillar of the religion and states: There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Lâ ilâha illa Allah Muhammad rasûlAllah. It is an act of faith and knowledge. Creatures recognize the truth—they see, so to speak, divine unity and the prophetic succession down to the last of the messengers, Muhammad ﷺ—and ultimately bear witness to what they see. Faith is indeed the first stage of supra-rational knowledge and constitutes an anticipation, a vision through a veil that believers ask God to be able to contemplate throughout their lives, so that they may finally grasp its beauty and majesty with clarity.
The purity of faith leads Muslims to rid themselves of the vices of self-centeredness and disloyalty and to act with ever-greater openness to the divine will. The believer thus recognizes his true religious identity and draws inspiration from it for the just fulfillment of his daily responsibilities. The Muslim’s identity consists, in fact, in achieving acceptance of God’s will, an achievement that can be realized through a process of purifying one’s faith in God and adhering to the example of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
The dimension of faith does not in any way coincide with a form of passive fatalism and is the polar opposite of quietism. It is indeed up to men and women to perform a service to the Merciful that may elevate them to the rank of ’ibâd ar-Rahmân, the servants of the Merciful. It is precisely this virtuous, devout servitude that opens the way for the believer to share in and experience the benefits of a constant and conscious relationship with divine mercy.
When human reason contradicts divine reason, it is never right. When human reason follows divine reason, it is always right. To be right, reason must be enlightened by faith. If faith is pure, reason expresses itself with clarity and intelligence. If faith is obscured by forgetting God or by failing to conform to the teachings of the prophets, reason is confused and betrays a certain ambiguity.
This is not a matter of fideism, but rather of uniting faith with reason. Faith, in fact, far from being a sort of vague, sentimental, simplistic, and consolatory belief—a childish legacy of a humanity that could soon do without it—is, on the contrary, identified with the first level of the intellectual dimension. Faith is therefore already a form of knowledge superior to that which derives from individual rationality and corresponds to the point of convergence between reason and intellect. According to the traditional perspective, in fact, reason and intellect are not the same thing: while reason remains a human faculty, personal and individually limited, the intellect is participation in a mode of knowledge that is supra-personal, supra-rational, and universal. This participation is made possible by the ontological status of man, created ‘alā sûratihi, in the divine image. It is precisely this conformity to the Lord of the Worlds that enables virtuous believers, as they ascend, to contain the knowledge of God.
Faith, therefore, does not mean irrationality, but rather supra-rationality.
The challenge is to live a faith enlightened by reason and a reason enlightened by faith, without division or confusion. For every believer, faith and reason are indeed complementary and inseparable dimensions of human nature—though they pertain to mutually incommensurable realms—dimensions that need to be deepened and refined for a more meaningful participation in the spiritual and material development of humanity. Respect for the specific characteristics of faith and reason constitutes the foundation of respect for all religious people and for every creature. The nature of faith is, in fact, to inspire humanity toward the vision of God, while the purpose of human reason is to learn to live in this world by following the rules of intelligence.
Another aspect of divine Mercy that is expressed through faith lies in the necessity of religion. Indeed, it is not enough to profess that one is a creature of the one God and to have faith without practicing one of the religions He has revealed. Faith is not an abstract opinion, a mental representation, a statement of principle, or a verbal formulation; on the contrary, it implies an active adherence to divine Revelation and constitutes the beginning of an ontological transformation. Faith requires a journey of drawing near to God that can be accomplished only through the providential means of religions, which, as indicated by the very etymology of the word religio—from the Latin religare, “to bind”—have precisely the function of leading creatures to their Lord; these means are above all the rites that allow for the influence of the Spirit, necessary for the transformation of men and women.
Believing in the One God does not imply that there should be only one valid religion—one’s own—to the exclusion of all others. God is One, and no one possesses His Oneness except Him; but in His omnipotence and Mercy, He has decreed that there be different religions, all valid and functional for the members of their respective communities. The coexistence of diverse religions and communities of believers is an expression of God’s will, who has granted His manifold creatures different paths to salvation and numerous spiritual disciplines, all of which are effective, provided that the believer is willing to practice them with sincerity, in full respect for the doctrine and ritual orthodoxy of his own religion, and without confusion or syncretism.
“Mankind was originally a single community, and God sent the Prophets—bearers of good news and warners—and with them He revealed the Book of Truth to judge between people regarding the matters on which they differed.” “If God had willed, He would have made you a single community, but He tests you with what He has given you. So strive in good deeds. You will all return to God, and He will inform you of that over which you differed.” “Let there be among you a community of people who invite to what is good, who promote justice, and forbid injustice. They will be successful.” Reading these passages from the Quran reveals the unfolding of the community’s history: in the beginning, all people were “a single community.” This is the primordial community, an expression of the first humans who experienced the sacred emotion of life and their presence on earth as a constant discovery of knowledge, and each new experience as an immeasurable opportunity to recognize the divine miracle that is renewed at every moment. The gradual decline of this first community eventually led the creatures to confuse the signs of God with His essence, and the beauty of the world with the remembrance of God, until they fell into idolatry.
On Mercy has therefore decreed that a succession of “prophets, messengers, and warners” be sent to earth, who have providentially upheld spiritual discipline while fostering the growth of communities into various religious groups. The call of the messengers who inspire the various religious communities is solely to guide believers toward the truth by enabling them to distinguish it from falsehood, to renew the remembrance of service to God and not to men, the remembrance of responsibility in this world with a view to the Hereafter, and the invitation to practice spiritual virtues rather than individual vices.
The succession of prophets from the beginning of time to the present day—from the first man, Adam, to the Seal of Prophethood, Muhammad ﷺ — brings divine teaching to humanity, enabling those who are open to receiving it to experience existence from a broader and nobler dimension and perspective. A perspective rooted in the certainty of faith—a firm belief in the miracle of a spiritual presence that transcends us and yet, at the same time, is immanent and active in our lives.
The mysterious unity of this spiritual presence, which both unites and distinguishes transcendence and immanence, is identified with the reality of that one God who inspires every religious community. Around this divine axis, which links the worlds like the beads of a necklace, various theological, doctrinal, and dogmatic interpretations develop, along with different shades of greater or lesser orthodoxy and ritual observance. Thus, every believer from any community can achieve a greater or lesser degree of transparency in spiritual piety, depending on their willingness to follow the example of the masters and to realize this ascending synthesis of the signs of God into the Lord of signs, with the gift of intellect that God has granted to every human being.
The communal dimension is, in fact, fundamental to practicing one’s faith wisely: “The believing men and women are friends and brothers and sisters to one another; they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, establish prayer, pay the obligatory alms, and obey God and His Messenger: those are the ones upon whom God will bestow His Mercy; He is Mighty, Wise.” Muslims support one another in the effort to understand and follow God’s will at every stage of their lives. The counsel, teaching, warning, and inspired witness that believers offer one another help all members of the community maintain their direction and continue on the “straight path.” It is also through the fraternal empathy among believers of every religious community that humanity rediscovers the ability to discern between good and evil and to dedicate its place in the world through acts of worship and gratitude, charity, solidarity, and love.
In Islam, love represents a lower degree of Rahma, a part of the Creator’s Mercy, a part of the Prophet’s conduct. Love is a sacred discipline, a dynamic of knowledge that belongs to God and not to the free and erroneous interpretations of human beings. It is a maieutics of divine art to support creatures and the world in their harmonious process of integration into the celestial order.
Love among creatures is indeed one of the signs of the radiance of God’s love for His creatures; thus the spiritual brotherhood among believers, the collaboration among grateful people, the tangible presence and sincere concern for the poor and needy are all opportunities to practice certain concrete aspects of the Mercy of the Merciful toward His beloved servants. As for the believers’ love for God, it is in reality a reflection of God’s love for Himself: it is up to human beings to achieve the transparency necessary so that God’s love may make them blessed links in this sacred circle that has its origin and its end in God.
From the love between creatures also springs dialogue—physical, psychological, and spiritual communication—which consequently takes on the character of a natural condition of the human being, the fruit of a blessed lineage of peoples and nations, cultures and civilizations, upon whom rests the spiritual responsibility to honor life in the world alongside other creatures of the same or different origins, yet whose origin coincides in the same God, Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them.
The purpose of dialogue lies in this duty of mutual understanding, which serves as a means to a deeper knowledge of ourselves and of our Lord. It is precisely through dialogue with our neighbor—in a natural encounter with another divine creature, whether a father or mother, brother or sister, son or daughter, neighbor—that every person has the opportunity and the duty to seize the chance for new knowledge, both quantitative and qualitative, capable of confirming or refuting certain conceptions of the spiritual reality of oneself and the world.
The diversity of religions and beings cannot, in fact, justify any form of syncretism, relativism, or competitive conflict. No religion is superior or better than another, for every true religion is a spiritual path rich in all the tools necessary for the believer’s salvation or enlightenment, wherever in the world and at whatever point in history. Religions are essentially perfect, since they come from God. Rather, it is up to the believer’s integrity to make proper use of these tools and to progress along the right path of his or her own religion, drawing upon—in this virtuous journey—the aids that God has provided, including dialogue and exchange among believers and all people, sages and teachers of the same religion or of other faiths.
Treating one’s own religion as absolute is a grave mistake. For although religion is a blessed and providential path back to God, it is nonetheless relative in the face of the One who alone is absolute: Allah, God. Believers must not develop a visceral attachment to the sacred forms of their faith while forgetting their symbolic nature. Believers must not worship their own religion, but God—if they do not wish to fall into a form of idolatry that is subtle yet equally dangerous.
An equally serious mistake, moreover, is to relativize, on psychological grounds, the absolute value of the faith in God held by believers of various religions. Relativism, in fact, is not the same as pluralism, for relativism strips everything—every religion and every sacred symbol—of its spiritual value by “relativizing ” everything on a horizontal plane, devoid of depth and verticality, with the pretense of artificially reducing the various aspects of divine science and all religions on historical or anthropological grounds, thereby depriving them of any correspondence with the nature of their frame of reference: the sacred and its rules.
The study of sacred texts and the lives of God’s various messengers must be approached with the understanding that the Spirit of God intervenes in a particular way at a specific time and place. It will thus be easily understood that divine providence, in addition to producing the immeasurable benefit of new paths to salvation and knowledge, is part of an eternal and universal order of reality, which cannot therefore be limited exclusively to specific forms—whether of history or sacred geography—nor can it be analyzed on social or psychological grounds.
The spiritual essence of Islamic doctrine depends directly on an irruption of the sacred into the world that cannot be historicized, for it is an expression of divine mercy. God’s mercy is indeed eternal in its nature as a divine attribute, and primordial, since it has radiated throughout the worlds without interruption since the beginning of time, since the very start of creation. Traditional doctrine takes on ever-changing forms, linked to the mutability of circumstances, yet remains immutable in its essence, which resides in divine knowledge and transcends the categories of history.
It is a matter of learning to commit oneself in the name of God and not in one’s own name, by placing the providential objectivity of one’s own sacred history and tradition in perspective before the absoluteness of God, and by seeking with care and sensitivity to grasp those teachings that God wishes to impart in His infinite mercy, including through dialogue with a brother of one’s own faith or of another faith.
For communication to be effective, it will be necessary to have a clear intention regarding the purpose of the dialogue, which, in addition to fostering a deeper understanding, must specifically produce greater spiritual piety—a quality that distinguishes the true sages of every tradition and expresses the degree of closeness and spiritual nobility attained in the presence of God. It is precisely the accessible presence of these sages that will guarantee the quality and effectiveness of a truly religious dialogue, ensuring that the pride of a supposed doctrinal competence or of certain dialectical and philosophical abilities does not prevail.
The aim, then, is not to engage in dialogue merely to follow a humanitarian impulse, nor to oppose a secularizing and materialistic political trend, but to renew the order of a “dialogue for God,” in which the wise can discern and apply in life the contemporary relevance of certain doctrinal principles, for the spiritual and material practice not only of their own faithful but also of those of other religions.
Avoiding the error of syncretism, these same sages sought to emphasize the spiritual value of every message and every messenger, highlighting the universal dimension of divine grace; which, while at the time of its descent brought about the traditional reorientation of certain peoples toward a new religious form, undoubtedly conveyed a spiritual benefit to all other peoples who, at that same time, belonged to and have continued to belong to other religious traditions.
Every new Revelation, in fact, offers a methodological benefit even to those who do not formally adhere to it, while acknowledging its divine value, by urging the followers of previous Revelations toward a spiritual renewal that preserves the original vitality of their own religion. The advent of Christianity has undoubtedly revived the spiritual vitality of Judaism, just as the Revelation of Islam has fostered a renewal of the spiritual aspirations of Jews and Christians. For it is always God, in fact, who returns to speak to humanity with each new Revelation, calling them to Him.
The various theological perspectives found in the different Revelations are providential and should be respected and taught with a view to understanding their profound complementarity, drawing on the metaphysical tension produced by the encounter between multiple aspects of the one God, which—in order to be internalized and to allow us to glimpse their transcendent unity—require believers to make the effort to look beyond forms. Moreover, the unconditional reality of God cannot be limited to a verbal formulation. Just as every language uses different words to denote the same meaning, so too do religions use different and seemingly incompatible forms to denote the same and one God, whom words and forms can express only symbolically.
Indeed, it is not only the revealed forms that seem to be in opposition to one another. On the contrary, such apparent oppositions are found throughout all manifested reality, and they all compel us to see the deeper unity of reality, lifting us above ordinary, conventional life. God alone is the Truth, and this Truth cannot be associated with any of the necessary providential forms that He has established to lead humankind to salvation and knowledge.
According to Islamic doctrine, everything—whether visible or invisible, static or dynamic—is a sign of God, a sign of the one and only Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them. The primary cause of the existence of all things is linked to God’s intention to “be known.” His desire for knowledge and to recognize Himself in the reflection of His manifestation is the foundation of the love that Muslims experience in their effort to fulfill that very knowledge. This is a merciful dynamic of knowledge and love in which God knows and loves Himself in His reflection, in His creation, and in His creatures. .
In support of religious faith—which is the essential foundation of sacred knowledge—God reveals His signs and the miracle of a creation that is renewed at every moment. Through contemplation of God and His signs, and through meditation on the symbols and the dynamics of creation, every Muslim opens themselves to the recognition of God’s oneness in the universality of creation. God’s signs in the world are inexhaustible, diverse, and ever-changing, yet they all participate in the universality and the maieutics of God, who miraculously suggests to sentient creatures the formal variety of creation and the essential unity of the Creator. Muslims thus open themselves to recognizing the single source of the variety unfolding in the world and the immeasurable presence of God in every aspect, place, and moment of His manifestation.
Islam urges humanity to reexamine its own existence from a purely cognitive perspective, in which, through life experience and the fulfillment of one’s duty as a servant and vicegerent of God in the world, it becomes possible to learn, with humility and dignity, to know oneself better; for, as it is said in another prophetic tradition, “He who knows himself knows his Lord.”
Based on this last consideration, we can appreciate the level to which God intended to elevate humankind, by placing it at the center of the universe He created and enabling it to appreciate the diversity of creation, which is nothing other than a reflection of His infinite Mercy, Rahmat Allah.
Indeed, the opportunity granted by God to all people to attain the same universal knowledge that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ has transmitted to us coincides precisely with fidelity to his Sunnah and with the aspiration to follow his example, bringing us closer to the station of perfection ofthe Insân al-Kâmil, the Universal Man. In this sense, every Muslim is called to act in accordance with an ever-deeper understanding of their own purpose, becoming a witness— mushâhid—to the truth contained in the first pillar of Islam, the shahâda, the testimony of faith: lâ ilâha illâ Allah Muhammad rasûl Allah, “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is His Messenger.”
It is precisely in this way that the prophetic light, the nûr Muhammadiyya, exerts its illuminating presence over all things, opening our eyes to the evidence of God’s presence—a presence in which we are embedded and of which we are composed. For those who see and realize this presence through transparency to the light of prophecy, every thing and every moment shares in the eternity of Islam’s revealed message.
Believers cannot, in fact, limit themselves to a formal adherence to the testimony of faith, but must live out a practical, everyday dimension of Islam; for knowledge that is not reflected in one’s life is not authentic, just as a full glass cannot help but overflow, thereby revealing the authenticity of its fullness. The lives of believers must therefore be a mirror of their Islamic identity, their faith, their knowledge, and their ontological realization of the shahada.
This man will be able to express and interpret on earth a harmony and peace that reflect the true nature of humanity and the world. His testimony will never concern the utopia of a “paradise on earth,” but rather the true nature of paradise and the earth, and above all the inscrutable divine wisdom for reaching paradise by honoring existence on earth.
The transformation of the world depends directly on the action of divine Mercy, which works to renew the order of creation through the purified souls of those who have been able to transform themselves before transforming the destiny of a people, as the Holy Quran teaches. These are the ones who have been able to redirect their spiritual sensibility toward God and subordinate the movements of the soul to the “image of the Merciful.”
In this case, however, we are not speaking of the rational individual, but rather of the Universal Man—man considered in his spiritual dimension and capable of containing the sanctifying presence of the Lord.
Another principle that is deeply rooted in Islamic doctrine is that of the sanctity of life. Indeed, humankind was created‘alâ sûrat ar-Rahmân, that is, “in the image of the Most Merciful”: this expression articulates the specific responsibility of human beings as God’s vicegerents on earth, called to practice mercy toward all of creation and, all the more so, toward the communities of believers of the other Revelations that God—precisely by virtue of His omnipotence—has manifested. Human life is sacred because it comes from God, who has bestowed it upon His creatures so that they may use it with wisdom and discipline to seek His knowledge, as all of God’s saints have done from the beginning until the present day.
Islam indeed encompasses all communities of true believers from the time of Adam—the first man and the first Islamic prophet—to the last of the messengers, Muhammad ﷺ, who is the Seal of Prophethood. Islam is therefore the final expression of the unchanging or axial tradition, the dîn al-qayyima, which has existed since the beginning of the world and is identified with the immanent aspect of truth. All the traditions that God has chosen to reveal are manifestations, at various times and in various places, of this primordial tradition, and consequently share a single essence.
Regarding the essential unity and profound brotherhood among Revelations, divine messengers, and religious communities, Islamic tradition records a teaching from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to his Companions: “Of all men, I am the one closest to Jesus, son of Mary, in this world and in the Hereafter.” “In what sense, O Messenger of God?” he was asked. “The Prophets are like brothers from the same father but different mothers. Their religion is one. There is no Prophet between Jesus and me.”
The mission of the Seal of Prophethood, Muhammad ﷺ, also carries a strong eschatological significance. He is, in fact, the last of God’s messengers before the Day of Judgment. The Prophet ﷺ reminded his Companions—and reminds all believers, until the end of time—of the imminence and immanence of eschatology with these words: “We have been sent, I and the Hour, just like this”—and as he spoke, he gestured with two fingers joined together.
And it is precisely in anticipation of this judgment, of that final day when all creatures will be called to account for their deeds, that our relationship with mercy takes on its ultimate significance. Without the promise of this final judgment, of this balance of justice between consistency and indifference, between obedience and disobedience, between the good and the evil accomplished by human beings during their life on earth, mercy might have a different meaning.
Muslims are therefore called upon to live with a spiritual sense of eschatological tension, aware that every day could be their last, every hour their final hour. This does not, of course, mean falling into an emotional and fanatical millenarianism that would presume to “predict the future,” forgetting that no one knows the hour except the Lord of the Hour. Rather, it is a matter of living every moment of one’s life as if it were the last before the encounter with the Merciful, and thus of seeking at every moment the greatest spiritual benefit and, ultimately, divine perfection.
For believers, trust in or hope for His Mercy sustains the possibility of attaining, in the life of the Hereafter, the presence of eternal grace. In contrast, the punishment of damnation—which confines the soul to the absence of light and the torment of hellfire—is the fate of those who have not earned the privilege of meeting the Merciful One.
“And We have sent you as a mercy to the worlds.” “And say: ‘O Lord! Forgive and have mercy. You are the Most Merciful.’” . These quotations are interpreted by the scholars to remind us of the mediating role that the Prophet ﷺ will play at the end of time toward the worlds and toward the community of believers who have known how to follow, in an Islamic manner, the authentic and complete acceptance of God’s sole will in the attainment of inner and outer peace. For these believers, he will be a mediator of mercy on the Day of Judgment.
Man is both the instrument and the beneficiary of God’s miracle and Mercy, which give him life.
God does not limit the outpouring of His Mercy to the gift of life. Indeed, in this world, humankind finds the sustenance that enables them to care for the earth and honor their Creator.
The fruits of the earth are indeed gifts from God and entail a responsibility for stewardship that God has entrusted to every person. By partaking of these fruits, every person opens themselves to an understanding and awareness of the value of the earth and the heavens, the environment, and the cycle of creation.
The sustenance that God provides for His creatures is not merely the satisfaction of a physical need, but rather the bestowal of spiritual resources that find their means of delivery in food and drink. Thus, through food and drink, believers partake of blessings.
Consequently, believers must approach this act with respect and moderation, a sense of the sacred, without letting themselves be carried away by the urge of hunger or thirst, which often risks giving rise to gluttony, greed, and the vices of the mouth, but also to avarice and stinginess, and even to a hardening of the heart.
According to the Prophet, the purpose of food in this world is to satisfy hunger and provide enjoyment, all in the service of worshipping God.
An appreciation and gratitude for divine provision, which is always excellent and perfectly suited to the actual needs of those who long for their Lord.
Invoking God’s name before drinking or beginning a meal, as well as giving thanks to Him, demonstrate our remembrance and gratitude for the gift God bestows upon us by providing the sustenance that enables us to act and live.
Divine Mercy cannot be reduced to a concern solely for the needy, the vulnerable, and the poor.
We must honor the poor in spirit and help the poor who lack material possessions, but we cannot equate the former with the latter and hate those who have possessions by lumping them in with the category of the greedy.
Through His Mercy, it is our duty to guide believers to the Kingdom of Heaven, and not merely to focus on the concerns of this transient world.
Failing to recognize the tangible efficacy of grace’s influence in rituals and sacrifices from a metaphysical perspective on life risks reducing religious practice to a pragmatic form of social assistance—an extreme opposite of dogmatism, yet no less deviant than the former.
