The World Needs Soldiers Of Mercy. The World Needs You!

Soldiers of Mercy

by Saud Inam*
      You may be looking at the title of this article rather strangely. Soldiers. Mercy. Aren’t soldiers known for warfare and fighting? Mercy, isn’t that something that is a beautiful thing in life. Aren’t those two are incompatible?  It may not be making sense, but let us remember for a moment that a soldier in the very essence of the role is one who carries out orders to defend something from an external enemy. As for mercy it is also a noble characteristic and trait.

     Allah has made us all His soldiers. We are soldiers in the Army of Peace and we wage peace and mercy— not violence and destruction. We were created with the purpose of being caretakers of the world:
      In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. “It is He Who has made you (His) vicegerents, inheritors of the earth: He has raised you in ranks, some above others: that He may try you in the gifts He has given you: for your Lord is quick in punishment: yet He is indeed Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful.”(Al Qur’an, 6:165)

     In this case, the soldiers of mercy, fight against the oppression of poverty, injustice, hunger, homelessness, and evil within the world which people are afraid to face or are powerless to face. Soldiers of mercy seek to alleviate the suffering of others less fortunate than themselves and serve others with selflessness, honor, and integrity.

     In a world that is bleeding and burning at every level the world is in great need of love, mercy, and compassion. There are wars, oppression, poverty, disease, homelessness, hunger, prostitution, drug abuse, domestic violence, and the list can go on and on. The question becomes: what are we doing about it? What is our contribution to the world? What is the effort we’re putting in to help stop the bleeding and stop the burning of the world?

     How will the poor, needy, defenseless, hungry and suffering remember us? Or will they remember us at all? Are our lives merely a drive-thru in which we eat, sleep, consume and enjoy our lives while those around us suffer in agony? Are our lives so ego-centric that we forget that our happiness is dependent on the happiness of others? We may switch on the TV or read the news of the atrocities, corruption, warfare, poverty, oppression, destruction and violence going on in the world and not even feel anything within our hearts. No sympathy, no empathy, no compassion. If it is so, then our hearts must be put into check, we must heal our hearts and learn to retrain our hearts love again and feel compassion again for those less fortunate than us.

      In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

1. Have you seen him who denies the Recompense? 2. That is he who repulses the orphan (harshly), 3. And urges not the feeding of AlMiskin (the poor),4. So woe unto those performers of Salat (prayers) (hypocrites), 5. Who delay their Salat (prayer) from their stated fixed times,6. Those who do good deeds only to be seen (of men),7. And refuse Al-Ma’un (small kindnesses e.g. salt, sugar, water, etc.). (Surah al-Maun)

     We are a people who limit our Islam to the five pillars of Islam, but remember that those are just a FOUNDATION upon which we must build. Yes, we all may have established the five pillars in our lives, but have we built a beautiful structure upon that foundation? Is the salah we perform transforming our lives to be better human beings? Our salah should transform us in such a way that every salah brings us closer to Allah and allows us to go out and face the world and serve the world.
     We speak of the beauty of Islam, but are we truly living Islam? When we act as soldiers of mercy, we reflect the mercy that the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) brought to the world. We must reflect the “mercy unto Mankind” and amplify that mercy within our lives.

     In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. “And We have not sent you except as a mercy to mankind“ (Surah Al-Anbiyah 21:107)

     We believe that our leadership be it in the masjid or our own governments are the solution to all the social, political, and economic turmoil happening in our communities. We believe that simply voting is the solution to all the problems. We say “I did my civic duty by voting,” but have you done your HUMANITARIAN duty of serving the poor, the needy, the homeless, and those suffering in YOUR community?  Are we coming up with solutions to the problems within our own communities? Our communities are in need of so much improvement and are lacking individuals willing to step up to the plate to come up with viable solutions to the problems facing their communities.

     Lastly, we must remove the apathy from our hearts when we see those less fortunate than us suffering. When we hear the deaths of innocent individuals in Syria, Palestine, Pakistan, Yemen, and even here in the US, we need to feel the prick of pain in our hearts and our prayers should go out for those suffering. We should never be unaffected by the suffering of others.
     In a world that seemingly is becoming more and merciless the world is in need of compassion and love….the world is in need of mercy.
    The world needs soldiers of mercy. The world needs you. (HSH)

The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of alhajsharif.blogspot.com.

*Saud Inam is  a Muslim American activist, social entrepreneur, blogger, writer, and a community organizer amongst other things.
Source: http://sabrshukr.wordpress.com