Be Kind 

God tells us to exhort one another to be kind. Implicit in that is that we should be kind ourselves. We should be kind to our family and friends; we should be kind to those in need; we should be kind to strangers; we should be kind to the earth. He tells us that this is the difficult path, and if we can follow it, we will deserve happiness forever.

[90:11] He should choose the difficult path. 

[90:12] Which one is the difficult path? 

[90:13] The freeing of slaves. 

[90:14] Feeding, during the time of hardship. 

[90:15] Orphans who are related. 

[90:16] Or the poor who is in need. 

[90:17] And being one of those who believe, and exhorting one another to be steadfast, and exhorting one another to be kind. 

[90:18] These have deserved happiness.

There’s nothing we want more than to attain the happiness that God promises. So, we’re willing to walk on the difficult path to achieve that. How difficult it must have been for people to go against the norm of the day and free their own slaves and work for the emancipation of others. How difficult it can be to face hardship yourself and still find the way to feed and clothe others in need. So, it can be a difficult path. 

But in 87:8 God tells us: We will direct you to the easiest path. So, is it difficult or is it easy? Yes! It can certainly be both. In worldly terms, it may be very hard to buck the trend, but in spiritual terms, God is telling us that He will make it easy. 

Today this country is so divided that you can hear people talk of civil war. This past political campaign was the ugliest in a long time, with both sides heaping foul words on the other, sometimes almost inciting to violence. And this culminated in the invasion of the Capitol on January 6. The nastiness, the hostility, the aggression was on view to the whole world. How on earth can we become KIND again? 

 By choosing the difficult path. I can start by being kind. When someone cuts me off in traffic, I have a choice. I can curse, make rude physical gestures, or I can smile and say praise God. If someone makes an unkind remark to me, I can respond in kind or I can respond with kindness. God tells us in the Quran to counter evil with good (13:22, 28:54). It’s a trait of the righteous. Again, a smile can go a long way to defuse a situation. And if it doesn’t (sometimes a smile makes the rude person angrier), I can just walk away, saying praise God. 

We’re told in 4:5 to take care of orphans by clothing them and treating them kindly. We’re told to take care of relatives, orphans and needy persons when distributing the inheritances …you shall give them therefrom, and treat them kindly. (4:8). And in many places in the Quran we’re told to take special care of our parents. [17:24] And lower for them the wings of humility, and kindness, and say, “My Lord, have mercy on them, for they have raised me from infancy.” 

We’re told in [25:63] The worshipers of

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