Mercy Of Allah
﴿ قُلْ يَـٰعِبَادِىَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُواْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُواْ مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ۚ
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ ﴾
Say, O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the Mercy (of) Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, He is the Oft-Forgiving,
the Most Merciful. [39:53]
The story of Waḥshī b. Ḥarb h is related to this verse.
STORY OF WAḤSHĪ B. ḤARB h
Before embracing Islam, Waḥshī h was the slave of Jubair b. Muṭ‘im h. Waḥshī lived up to the meaning of his name – he was brutal and vicious. The disbelievers had suffered a big loss in the Battle of Badr, when many lives on their side were lost.
The following year, during the expedition of the Battle of Uḥud, Waḥshī’s h owner Jubair h, who had yet not embraced Islam, told him that if he was successful in killing Ḥamzah h (the uncle of the Prophet g) he would gain his freedom. Waḥshī hwanted nothing more than to be a free man. He found Ḥamzah h on the battlefield and succeeded in his mission, so Jubair h granted him his freedom.
Ḥamzah h was not only the beloved uncle of the Prophet g, he was also a close companion of his. Furthermore, he was also his foster brother. Thuwaibah had suckled both the Prophet g and Ḥamzah. One can only imagine the bond between the Prophet gand Ḥamzah h and the heartache he g must have felt upon losing his beloved uncle.
Despite this, the Prophet g asked Waḥshī h to embrace Islam, and this is the reason why we know the Prophet g to be a mercy to all mankind. Allah f says:
﴿ وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ﴾
And We have not sent you except as a mercy for the worlds. [21:107]
We can gauge the level of the Prophet’s g love for his uncle from the following words of Waḥshī h:
“… When all the people returned to Makkah, I too returned with them. I stayed in (Makkah) till Islam spread in it. Then I left for Ṭā’if, and when the people of Ṭā’if sent their messengers to Allah’s Messenger g, I was told that the Prophet g did not harm the messengers, so I too went out with them till I reached Allah’s Messenger g. When he saw me, he said,
“Are you Waḥshī?” I said, “Yes.” He said,
“Was it you who killed Ḥamzah?” I replied,
“What happened is what you have been told.” He said,
“Can you hide your face from me?” [1]
Nevertheless, although the Prophet g was extremely hurt by the brutal killing of his beloved uncle, he invited him to accept Islam.
There is a narration on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbās h, who said:
“The Messenger of Allah g invited Waḥshī b. Ḥarb h, the killer of his uncle Ḥamzah h, to embrace Islam,” to which Waḥshī h replied:
“O Muḥammad, how do you call me when you claim that whoever kills, commits polytheism, or commits adultery will be punished and Allah f will multiply his punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will remain humiliated therein forever? I have committed all the above sins, so do you find for me a concession?”
Waḥshī h was referring to the following verses:
﴿ وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَـٰهًا ءَاخَرَ وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِى
حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا يَزْنُونَ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰل يَلْقَ أَثَامًا ﴾
And those who do not invoke with Allah another god, and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right, and do not commit adultery.
And whoever does that will meet a penalty. [25:68-69]
As a result, the following verse was revealed:
﴿ إِلَّا مَن تَابَ وَءَامَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَـٰلِحًا فَأُوْلَـٰٓئِكَ
يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّـٰٔاتِهِمْ حَسَنَـٰتٍ ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا ﴾
Except he who repents and believes and does righteous deeds, then for those,
Allah will replace their evil deeds with good ones. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving,
Most Merciful. [25:70]
Waḥshī h wasn’t convinced, saying that this was another stipulation, and that perhaps he may not be able to do that. As a result, the following verse was revealed:
﴿ إِنَّ اللهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَن يَشَاء ﴾
Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners be associated with Him,
but He forgives other than that for whom He wills. [4:48]
After this verse, Waḥshī h responded stating,
“O Muḥammad! I do not know whether Allah f will forgive me or not.” The response of the Lord Almighty came in the following verse:
﴿ قُلْ يَـٰعِبَادِىَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُواْ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُواْ مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ۚ
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًا ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ ﴾
Say, O My slaves who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the Mercy (of) Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, He is the Oft-Forgiving,
the Most Merciful. [39:53]
Upon hearing this verse, Waḥshī h embraced Islam and turned to Allah f in repentance.
After the demise of the Prophet g, during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr h, Waḥshī h killed one of the worst enemies of Islam, Musailamah al-Kadhdhāb, who at the time was claiming to be a Prophet g.
It is reported that Waḥshī h killed Musailamah with the same spear he martyred Ḥamzah h. He stated that he killed both the best of mankind and the worst of mankind. [2]
We learn from this story that you should not write anybody off. Everything is in the hand of Allah f. Even if a person commits the most atrocious sin, it is in the hand of Allah f to grant that person guidance.
We must take heed from this. We should be inspired by this story and turn to Allah f in repentance. We have all have committed sins, we were not created to be perfect, this is how Allah f has created us. We must never lose hope in His Mercy, we must turn to Him and beg for forgiveness.
May Allah f accept our repentance. May Allah f turn to us with His mercy.
[1] Bukhārī, 4072.
[2] Ibn Kathīr, Al-Sirah Al-Nabawiyyah, 3:37.
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“The best among you (Muslims) are those who learn the Qur’an and teach it.”
The Prophet (peace be upon him)
