AN ARM'S LENGTH FOR A HAND'S BREADTH

Bismillahir Rachmaanir Racheem

Muslim and Al Bukhari transmitted an hadeeth about the profound mercy of God: “When God completed the creation, He wrote down above His Kingdom – my mercy precedes my wrath”. It is the mercy of God, not His wrath that pervades His creation. It is by His mercy that God wants to be called into remembrance, most of all, not by His wrath. God associated with one word all that He had created – mercy! It is the undeserved favour, love and tolerance of God that is written as His signature across the length and breadth of creation.

This mercy of God is not only in His creation – it is also a personal characteristic of God. Ahmad transmitted a beautiful hadeeth that embodies the mercy of God: “O child of Adam, if you mention Me to yourself, I mention you to Myself. And if you mention Me to a group, I mention you to a group of angels or to a group that is better than them. If you approach Me by a hand’s span, I approach you by an arm’s length. If you approach Me by an arm’s length, I approach you by a fathom length. And if you come to Me walking, I come to you running”. God wants us to approach Him for mercy and forgiveness. His willingness to be near us far exceeds our willingness to be near Him. An arm’s length for a hand’s span. A fathom for an arm’s length. When we walk to Him, He runs to us! Alhamdulillah!


The Holy Qur’an proclaims: “He selects for His mercy (Islam and the Qur’an with Prophethood) whom He wills and God is the Owner of great bounty” ( سورة آل عمران , Al-e-Imran, Chapter 3, Verse 74). God is bountiful in mercy and forgiveness. Abu Huraira recorded a hadeeth: “I heard God's Apostle saying, God divided mercy into one-hundred parts and He kept its ninety-nine parts with Him and sent down its one part on the earth, and because of that, its one single part, His creations are Merciful to each other, so that even the mare lifts up its hoofs away from its baby animal, lest it should trample on it”. The mercy of God that we experience on earth is only one hundredth part of His great bounty of mercy, which He reserves for us for the Day of Resurrection.

God is always way ahead of us in the desire for mercy and forgiveness. When we approach God for mercy by a hand’s span, He approaches us by an arm’s length.