We have not sent you but as a Mercy for Al `Alamin (all creatures)

Qur`anic Beacons
(We have not sent you but as a Mercy for Al `Alamin (all creatures))

Commentators have differed in explaining the word "Al `Alamin" that was mentioned in the Qur'an. It was said: "They are humans and jinn." It was also said: "All the living creatures." It was said: "Anything other than Allah, the Almighty."

It was reported from Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding the word "Al `Alamin" in this Ayah: Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a mercy for all the people; and whoever believes in him will be happy and whoever does not believe in him, he will be secure of landslides, drowning and eradication, which happened to the nations which belied their prophets; thus he was a mercy for them too. Others said: The meaning is the believers only whom He saved —by the message of Muhammad (peace be upon him)— of infidelity and its bad consequences in the world, and was a cause for the happiness which Allah promised them in the Hereafter; such mercy and its features are not achieved except for the believers.

Imam At-Tabary said after reviewing these views: "The soundest view according to me is the view of Ibn `Abbas."

However, it seems to me that the meaning of the Ayah is more inclusive than what has been mentioned because the Prophet (peace be upon him) was sent to a world that suffered a manifest crisis in values, especially mercy. That value was almost lost and the manifestations to that are numerous. Arabs were characterized by killing newborn girls, killing for trivial reasons, and killing one another without reason. On the other hand, the culture of the Romans was based on force where mercy had no place. Persia subjected to the class which destroyed the hopes of the weak and poor. In India, wives were burned alive with their husband when they die. Wars among nations were destructive and lasted for several years leaving no mercy for any weak part.

In those conditions which lacked mercy by all its meanings and manifestations, Allah sent Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to spread the culture of mercy in the world and to lay down the foundations for dealing mercifully with one another and justice will be controlled by mercy, moreover to activate the principle of mercy even during wars.

Such culture was crystal-clear in the biography of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in words and deeds where he exhorted his Companions to show mercy toward one another and dispraised those who belittle its value. Furthermore, he explained to the people the vastness of mercy and its aspects which expands to include not only humans whether friend or enemy but animals and birds as well.

Thus, the message of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was an indicator to the spread of a new culture in the whole world, which was the culture of mercy, therefore he deserved to be a mercy to the worlds.