Have mercy

The new Catholic Pope Francis made a remark about the profundity of mercy. A word so familiar to us Muslims because it is by this word that we start our daily thoughts and acts.

Our 'basmalah' consists of two desirable qualities - mercy and beneficence. As followers of the faith, we are supposed not only to form our lives by it, but to re-form and transform our lives by it. Isn't it surprising that as we look around, we are anything else but merciful and beneficent?

Mercy is about compassion or forgiveness. The Qur'an is considered God's mercy as it serves as a criterion and as a guidance. Even those who have transgressed are assured in the Qur'an by the words, "Say: O My servants who have transgressed against their own souls, despair not of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Surah az-Zumar 39:53)

There's a nice definition of beneficence from the UCSF School of Medicine and runs this way, an "action that is done for the benefit of others. Beneficent actions can be taken to help prevent or remove harms or to simply improve the situation of others". It is said that ethicists often distinguish between obligatory and ideal beneficence. The latter "comprises extreme acts of generosity or attempts to benefit others on all possible occasions"; however our obligatory beneficence depends on our individual circumstances and station in life.

We are some of the most religious people on the planet. But we need to grow beyond rituals and rites and live the essence of the mercy and beneficence of our faith in our daily lives. In the end it is not what we know, it is how we act on what we know that makes the difference. Now let's show we are true followers of the "Most Merciful, the Most Beneficent".