“My Mercy Excels My Wrath”


 The Five Words God Hasnaa Heikal

“What would Allah do with your punishment if you are grateful and believe? And ever is Allah Appreciative and Knowing.” [quran.com/4/147]

The verse above gives us a great meaning about many principles in our life and belief such as:

Who needs the worship of Allah (The One God, Creator of heavens and earth) Allah or us?


Why is there punishment for those who disbelieve?


Is Allah really merciful?


Who needs the worship? Allah or us?

Allah doesn’t need our worship, but we need to worship Him and ask for His help.

Allah is The Creator and knows what is best for His creatures. He told us to worship Him and He is Free of need and worthy of Praise.

And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me. I do not want from them any provision, nor do I want them to feed Me. [quran.com/51/56-57]

Allah; The Creator of the heavens and earth Who owns them  entirely; is The Rich and we are the poor to Him.

The Prophet narrated that God said:

O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden amongst you, so do not oppress one another. O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you, O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me and I shall feed you. O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing of Me and I shall clothe you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and will not attain benefitting Me so as to benefit Me. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would not increase My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that would not decrease My kingdom in anything. O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more that a needle decreases the sea if put into it. O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense you for, so let him who finds good, praise Allah, and let him who finds other than that, blame no one but himself. [Sunan Attirmidhi]

Why is there punishment for those who disbelieve?

– Allah is Just, and His justice necessitates that He reward those who obey and serve Him and punish those who disobey and rebel against Him. If Allah did not punish the sinful, wicked and evil people who deserve to be punished, He would not be just (May he be exalted from this). When punishment for wrongdoing is certain, it serves to deter potential offenders. In contrast, if Allah forgave everyone and punished no one, there would be no reason for legislation, ethics or even morality. Life on earth would be chaotic and nothing short of anarchy. True justice, that is true rewards and just penalties can only be found with Allah, and that is what He has promised in the Quran.

And We place the scales of justice for the Day of Resurrection, so no soul will be treated unjustly at all. And if there is [even] the weight of a mustard seed, We will bring it forth. And sufficient are We as accountant. [quran.com/21/47]

– Allah shows us all the rights and on the top of these rights are the rights between Allah and His slaves.

Mu’adh reported:

I was riding a pillion with the Prophet on a donkey. He said, “O Mu’adh, do you know what is the right of Allah upon His slaves, and what is the right of His slaves upon Allah?” I said: “Allah and His Messenger know better”. Upon this the Messenger of Allah said:

Allah’s Right upon His slaves is that they should worship Him Alone and associate nothing with Him; and His slaves’ right upon Him is that He should not punish who does not associate a thing with Him.

He (Mu’adh) added: I said to the Messenger of Allah: “Shall I give the glad tidings to people?” He said, “Do not tell them this good news for they will depend on it alone”.” [Bukhari and Muslim]

Is Allah really Merciful?

Allah Is The Most Merciful.

– Allah rewards and punishes every one according to his action, but what Allah truly wants is to accept our repentance and reward us all.

“Allah wants to accept your repentance, but those who follow [their] passions want you to digress [into] a great deviation.” [quran.com/4/27]

– Allah warns us of His punishment and encourages us to avoid it. If He wants to punish us, then why would He tell us to be careful:

“Allah warns you of Himself, and to Allah is the [final] destination.” [quran.com/3/28]

“[O Muhammad], inform My servants that it is I who am the Forgiving, the Merciful.  And that it is My punishment which is the painful punishment.” [quran.com/15/49-50]

The mercy of Allah excels His wrath:

“Abu Huraira reported Allah’s Messenger as saying: Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, said:

My mercy excels My wrath.”

[Sahih Muslim]

To sum up:

We must be thankful for Allah’s favors and blessings.

We must believe and act according to that belief, to live a good life.

We need Allah’s mercy and He is The Rich who wants to forgive us.

Finally, “Say, “O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.”& And return [in repentance] to your Lord and submit to Him before the punishment comes upon you then you will not be helped.” [quran.com/39/53-54]