Rahma
Definition
Rahma — mercy and compassion — is the quality the Quran explicitly names as the Prophet's ﷺ defining characteristic in his relationship to humanity: 'We have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds.' Al-Ghazali presents the prophetic rahma as comprehensive: it extended to children (whom he treated with extraordinary gentleness), to women (whose rights he championed in a culture that largely ignored them), to non-Muslims (who found in him a fair and honest interlocutor), to animals (who had specific protections under his leadership), and to his enemies (who he forgave at the conquest of Makkah rather than punishing). This mercy is the character that the Muslim following his ﷺ example is aspiring to develop.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
2 books in the library
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