Garkeder âlemleri bir katre âb-ı mağfiret
Var kıyâs et vüs’at-ı deryây-ı rahmet neydiğin[1]
Bâkî
Making people love Islam should be the primary goal achieved by preachers of Islam. Trying to make people accept something only by fear instills hatred. The Holy Qur’an uses not just the element of fear. On the contrary, when we examine it we can see that Hell and Paradise, believer and non-believer and depictions of good and bad are mentioned as much as they are needed, but the endearing side has more significance.
Saying that “…but My Mercy embraces all things…” (al-Araf 7; 156) Allah the Almighty emphasizes the vastness of His Mercy. This is also underlined by the Prophet (pbuh) in the following report:
“The Prophet said, “When Allah created the Creation, He wrote in His Book–and He wrote (that) about Himself, and it is placed with Him on the Throne—‘Verily My Mercy overcomes My Anger.’” (Bukhari, Tawhid, 15)
Our Lord the Almighty reminds His servants that He is The Forgiving, The Beneficent, and The Merciful. The basmala which we say at the beginning of all our actions and surat al-Fatihah (1), which we recite in every cycle of our prayers reminds us of these Divine attributes all the time. One of the incidents which manifest the endless Mercy of Allah the Almighty was narrated on the authority of Ibn Abbas.
“Some people amongst the polytheist who had committed many murders and had indulged in fornication came to Prophet (pbuh) and said:
“Whatever you assert and whatever you call to is indeed good. But if you inform us that there is atonement for our past deeds then we will embrace Islam. Then it was revealed:
“And those who call not unto another god along with Allah and slay not any soul which Allah has forbidden except in the cause of justice, nor commit fornication; and he who does this shall meet the requital of sin. Multiplied for him shall be the torment on the Day of Resurrection, and he shall therein abide disgraced, except him who repents and believes and does good deeds. Then these! For Allah shall change their vices into virtues. Verily Allah is Ever Forgiving, Merciful.” (Furqan 25; 68-70) (Muslim, Iman, 193)
Those who lost their hope because of the sins they had committed regained hope by this good news and attained eternal salvation.
Our Lord, The Beneficent and The Merciful, sent our Prophet (pbuh) as a mercy to humanity. Our beloved Prophet (pbuh) gave people the glad tidings about the beauty of the Hereafter and tried to keep them away from evil. In the following verse Allah the Almighty stated the Prophet’s attribute of being the announcer of the good news before his attribute of being a warner:
“We have not sent thee but as a universal (Messenger) to men, giving them glad tidings, and warning them (against sin), but most men understand not.” (Saba 34; 28)
This is because when the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) began his mission, he first gave people the glad tidings of Paradise saying:
“I invite you to bear testimony and embrace Islam saying “La ilaha illa-llahu wahdahu la sharika lah (There is no god but Allah, Who is One with no partners). I am His servant and His Messenger. If you accept and acknowledge this, then I will guarantee you that you will enter Paradise.” (Baladhuri, I, 119-120)
“Which one of you accepts to help in my mission and be my brother and thus to attain (a place in) Paradise?” (Ibn Sa’d, I, 187)
Just as those who are invited to embrace Islam and repent for their sins, those who pronounce their faith and endeavor to ascend the steps of perfection in their belief also need such glad tidings. In order to be desirous in performing good deeds and fulfilling their mission people need to hear such pleasing news. This was why Allah’s Messenger sometimes gave his Companions the glad tidings of Paradise. The ten Companions, who are known as “asharah mubashsharah (ten to whom joyful tidings have been given),” are very famous. (Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 27; Ibn Hanbal, I, 187-188)
The Prophet’s glad tidings were not limited to those ten Companions. He also gave joyful tidings to many of his Companions and to those who perform good deeds amongst his followers. For instance, his Companions who attended the Battle of Badr (Bukhari, Maghazi, 9) Khadijah (r.anha) (Bukhari, Manaqib al-Ansar, 29), Abdullah b. Salam (r.a.) (Bukhari, Adab, 55; Tirmidhi, Manaqib, 36) and Haritha b. Suraqa al-Ansari (r.a.) are just some of them.
However one should be very careful about giving people joyful news. One should abstain from giving such tidings that may withhold people from acts of worship or may cause laxity in their actions. One should not allow Satan to deceive humans by presenting the Forgiveness and Mercy of Allah the Almighty. Allah the Almighty warns His servants in this matter as follows:
وَلاَ يَغُرَّنَّكُمْ بِاللهِ الْغَرُورُ
“…nor let the arch deceiver deceive you in respect of Allah…” (Luqman 31; 33) Kazim Paşa says that:
Ümid-i afv ile olma harîs-i isyân kim
Ziyân-resîde eder âdemi hisâb-ı ferâh
“Do not attempt to go astray and commit evil with the hope to be forgiven, because many of those who do calculate loosely end up as losers.”
One should keep a good balance between the two approaches, i.e. being hopeful of being forgiven and fearful of being punished. It is seen in the following report that the Prophet (pbuh), too, was concerned about this matter:
“Once Mu’adh was riding with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). Allah’s Apostle said:
“O Mu’adh b. Jabal.” Mu’adh replied,
“Yes, O Allah’s Apostle! What is it?” Again the Prophet said,
“O Mu’adh!” Mu’adh replied thrice,
“Yes, O Allah’s Apostle! What is it?” Then the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,
“There is none who testifies sincerely that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah and Muhammad is his Apostle, except that Allah will save him from the Hell-fire.”
Mu’adh said,
“O Allah’s Apostle! Should I inform the people about this glad tiding so that they may rejoice?” He replied,
“When the people hear about it, they will solely depend on it.” Yet Mu’adh (r.a.) narrated the above-mentioned tradition just before his death, being afraid of committing the sin of not transmitting this knowledge.” (Bukhari, Ilm, 49)
Just as the existence of those who would become encouraged by such glad tidings and do more good deeds, like Muadh (r.a.), there are also those who may trust such news and become lazy. In fact, the number of the latter group is much greater than that of the former. Therefore, it is a very important principle for a preacher of Islam to calculate the possible effects of his words.
[1] Even a single drop from the fountain of Mercy is enough to submerge the entire universe (and is enough to forgive all sins). Compare how great and vast the Sea of Mercy is.