Grace and Mercy

Grace (Dictionary.com): favor or goodwill; a manifestation of favor, especially by a superior.

Mercy (Dictionary.com): compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one’s power; compassion, pity, or benevolence; the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing; the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment; an act of kindness, compassion, or favor; something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing.

“Most Gracious, Most Merciful” are probably the two most common qualities attributed to God. Not just some, but the MOST. Think about that. Let’s look at some examples.

Let’s start with the biggest one. God didn’t banish us from His kingdom when we failed to make a firm stand against Satan. Our egos got in the way when we questioned God’s authority during the great feud. How stupid were we. And God could have just done away with us. The angels certainly didn’t think we were worthy of mercy.

[2:30] Recall that your Lord said to the angels,

“I am placing a representative (a temporary god) on Earth.” They said, “Will You place therein one who will spread evil therein and shed blood, while we sing Your praises, glorify You, and uphold Your absolute authority?” He said, “I know what you do not know.”

Not only did God not do away with us, He went through all the trouble (though it was no trouble or burden for God) to explode our universe from one solid mass into existence (21:30). A universe that is perhaps 14 billion light years across. Then in addition to that He created six more universes surrounding ours in layers and we cannot even fathom how big those are. All for the purpose of giving us stupid humans a chance to redeem ourselves. “I know what you do not know.” Why did God do this? He certainly didn’t have to. He is the MOST Gracious, the MOST Merciful.

Obviously, God’s grace and mercy doesn’t stop with giving us another chance to join His kingdom. We’re humans now, we have faults, many faults, we’re prone to sin, and God made us weak. We need His support; we need His grace and mercy.

[6:12] Say, “To whom belongs everything in the heavens and the earth?” Say, “To GOD.” He has decreed that mercy is His attribute. He will surely summon you all on the Day of Resurrection, which is inevitable. The ones who lose their souls are those who disbelieve.

So how do we attain God’s grace and mercy? Well, we know the bare minimum requirement is to believe in God, believe in the last day and lead a righteous life. But as Submitters we don’t want to just check those three boxes.

[24:56] You shall observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and obey the messenger, that you may attain mercy.

[9:71] The believing men and women are allies of one another. They advocate righteousness and forbid evil, they observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and they obey GOD and His messenger. These will be showered by GOD’s mercy. GOD is Almighty, Most Wise.

God mentions many times about showering the believers with His grace, mercy, blessings, love and forgiveness. The definition of “shower” in this case is to

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