God’s Mightiness & Wisdom

“Whatever Mercy God unfolds (to anyone), none can

withhold it from Him; and whatever He withholds (from

anyone), none can release it after Him. And He is

the Mighty, the Wise” (35:2).

Through his biography, we understand that Muhammad (God’s blessings upon him) was a pure and natural person, known by his people as the best in behavior, although he had neither wealth nor any position of eminence in his native city. Then, when God bestowed upon him the Prophecy and assigned him as His messenger to guide people to the Straight Path in life, some of the disbelievers thought that such a task should have been given to a “great” personality of one of the two cities: Makkah and Taif.

God narrated this in the Qur’an as follows: “And they said: Why was not this Qur’an bestowed to some great man of the two cities? (But) is it they who distribute the mercy of your Lord? (Nay, it is) We who apportion among them their livelihood in the life of this world, and raised some of them above others by degrees, so that some of them may take others in service, and the mercy of your Lord is better than what they amass” (43:31-32).

God, n His  mightiness and wisdom had chosen Muhammad as His last messenger to mankind: “..God knows best upon whom to bestow His message ..” (6:124), but the shortsightedness of those disbelievers in Makkah could not grasp this.

There is a twofold of God’s mercy for mankind: material things which we need for our life, and another kind of mercy which is more important and which guides us to the blessed life, in this world and in the hereafter, and that is God’s revelation to His messenger.

Both kinds of mercy can be obtained with God’s grace, which He distributes according to His mightiness and wisdom. God says: “God extends provision for whomever He will of His servants and He straitens it (for whom He wills). Truly God has knowledge of all things” (29:62).

Now let us talk about God’s mercy in the material things. God distributes it in a way that there must be mutual dealings among people, and at the same time it is a test from God:

“And He it is who has made you successors in the earth and has raised some of you above others in degrees, so that He may try you in what He has given you. Surely your Lord is swift in punishment, and surely He is Forgiving, Merciful” (6:165).

The mightiness and the wisdom of God (the Creator) made every individual of mankind unique, almost in everything: character, capability, knowledge, health and wealth. They are all different in all things, so that each of them needs and provides a different service. Thus mutual dealings are necessary.

To those who have attained to faith, God addresses as follows:

“O you who have attained to faith! When you are told: make room for one another in your assemblies (= collective life), do make rooms; (and in return) God will make room for you. And whenever you are told: Rise up (for a good deed), do rise up, (and) God will exalt by (many) degrees those of you who have attained to faith and, such as have been given (true) knowledge: for God is fully Aware of all that you do”(58:11).

The material things in this life are worth little in God’s eternal scheme. God may provide abundant wealth to a pious or a wicked person, as both are under trial in this life.

Those who wish for mere earthly good sometimes get it and misuse it. And those whose eyes are fixed on the Hereafter, may also get material wealth and use it for the cause of God, or they may get very little even when they work hard, while always staying steadfast in their faith:

 “Whoever desires (only) this fleeting life We hasten for him therein whatever We will, for whom We please; then We assign for him Hell, to which he will be exposed, condemned, and rejected. And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it with the necessary effort will find favour. Each We supply (to) these and (to) those from your Lord’s bounty. And your Lord’s bounty is not confined” (17:18-20).

God’s mightiness and wisdom in testing people with expansion and diminution of provision is clear: to give them the possibility of making a choice to either be grateful or ungrateful to His Lord. God says: “Verily We have shown him the way: (and it rests with him to prove himself) either grateful or ungrateful” (76:3).

And because God’s mercy is greater than his punishment, he gives time to everyone to make their choice: “If God were to take mankind to task for what they did, He would have not left a living creature on its surface. But He reprieves them to an appointed term. And when their term comes – then truly (they will know that) God is ever Seer of His servants” (35:45).