Daily Times

“The most merciful person is the one who forgives when he is able to take revenge”—Imam Hussain A.S.

The concept of mercy is associated with Allah in that despite disobedience of mankind and amid the ruckus that human beings create in this world, the Almighty continues to shower uninterrupted blessings on us all. What would one’s life amount to without the mercy of God? One can imagine that withdrawing just a single blessing, say of oxygen, can convert this entire planet into a graveyard. Such is the attribute that does not discriminate between believer and non-believer. Everyone is a beneficiary. Just as the falling droplets of rain cannot distinguish parched earth from moist, in the same way Allah’s favours know no bounds and are there to provide advantage to the poor as well as the affluent. Thus, one can say for sure that being merciful is a sign of devoutness and divinity as portrayed so aptly by Hamzah Naseer, a young US-based writer: “I am not a Shia nor am I a Sunni. I am not a Brahman nor an Untouchable. Mormon nor Presbyterian I am not. I am without class. For I am one out of many God’s creations whose heart reverberates praises of the Lord perpetually. For I am one, who can smell the sweet fragrance of the Divine in all His creations.”

When this quality finds its way in the human heart, it promotes compassion, fellow feeling, empathy, understanding, care, concern, solicitousness, sensitivity, warmth, love, brotherly love, tenderness, gentleness, leniency, tolerance, consideration, kindness, humaneness, charity and benevolence. Of course among human beings there are different levels of mercy that may or may not be subject to some conditions; or applicable or not in different cases. While at one end of the scale some may have an abundance of mercy, there could be some who are devoid of this emotion at the other end. Every day we see incidents of brutality where life of an innocent is taken with unprecedented ferocity on extremely petty grounds and with no remorse. Yet there are instances of benevolence where an abandoned premature infant is cared for, raised and treated like royalty by doting foster parents. While the vicious may snatch someone’s hard-earned morsel, there are merciful who willingly starve themselves to feed the hungry. As the revengeful abuse and dishonour their enemies’ virtuous women forcing them to parade naked in the streets of villages, the benevolent provide shelter to the destitute and downtrodden when no one is ready to cater to their needs.

Again, mercy comes into play, but this time it has to be at the state level. When people belonging to countries that have progressed rapidly are interviewed, one learns how happy and content they are with their governments’ initiatives to make their lives comfortable, and how they see no reason to avoid paying taxes since in return they receive remarkable benefits. Can we in Pakistan, express the same sentiments with complete confidence?

Many are afflicted with pride over their acts of charity which they leave no stone unturned to propagate, and show to the world how much they care. Chief among them are the leading countries of the First World that in the name of aid throw peanuts at the oppressed humanity living in less fortunate countries. At a lower level, many non-governmental organisations seem to be busy in charitable activities, hue and cry of which is raised at all channels for the purpose of attracting more funds. There is no denying their good intentions or desire to help the people but despite the existence of a large number of such organisations, poverty, unemployment and resulting acts of crime are on the rise. Only a merciful government that realises its responsibilities towards the people is capable of making a significant turn-around. Again, mercy comes into play but this time it has to be at the state level. When people belonging to countries that have progressed rapidly are interviewed, one learns how happy and content they are with their governments’ initiatives to make their lives comfortable, and how they see no reason to avoid paying taxes since in return they receive remarkable benefits. Can we in Pakistan, express the same sentiments with complete confidence?

As members of the society, we generally claim to have a soft-spot in our hearts for our human brothers and sisters yet when anyone does something which causes us hurt or financial damage, we tend to, on the first available opportunity, strike back with equal or more severity even though there is no need to crack a nut with a sledgehammer. Many a times, the perpetrators are powerful, leaving the sufferer in a state of helplessness and misery. However, once the tables turn reversing the positions of strength, real test of fortitude becomes the destiny of the one-time victim. In such a situation the most instinctive act would be to retaliate in the same manner and style but a merciful approach would be to condone and forgive being a true test of humility. Perhaps the idea of pinnacle of humanity is the ability to restrain one’s temptations when in a position to exercise power.

There can be no denying that a balance needs to be struck between excessive mercy and excessive retribution and this is where the judiciary is required to play its role. Indeed, out of all the responsibilities of a government, perhaps the justice system has the most challenging task where it has to walk the extremely thin line between correction and punishment. Where strict enforcement of rule of law is vital for the maintenance of order in a civil society it has also been observed that rigorous strictures and harsh constraints unfeelingly applied ignore our natural human fallibility, which pleads guilty yet begs pardon and forgiveness. This is where mercy comes in, not as a substitute to justice but to complement stringent enforcement of law. As mentioned above, maintaining a balance is both essential and difficult because justice overdone is meticulousness as mercy overdone allows permissiveness: severity and leniency represent the dark sides of each virtue that must be avoided. At this juncture only wisdom can help to steer clear of either extreme.

Examples of saints, Sufis, pious men and women are fraught with merciful deeds because of which they keep living in the hearts of people, despite passage of hundreds of years. They are remembered with love and reverence and honoured for their contribution in uplifting the forsaken and the abandoned. There are long lists of names from all religions and regions who have had the opportunity to spread the message of love and mercy, who have actually practiced what they preached leaving permanent impressions on the hearts of those who were beneficiaries of their kindness. Such is the purity of mercy and goodwill that even a person as shrewd as the historically acclaimed Chanakya is quoted as saying: “There is no austerity equal to a balanced mind, and there is no happiness equal to contentment; there is no disease like covetousness, and no virtue like mercy.”

The writer, lawyer and author, is an Adjunct Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)

Published in Daily Times, September 15^th 2018.