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Islam’s Description of God’s Mercy and Wrath
By: Ayatullah Professor Muhammad Taqi Misbah Yazdi
One of the Westerners’ misgivings on Islam is that the God described in the Qur’an is wrathful, harsh, furious and revengeful but the God of the Bible is forgiving, compassionate, benevolent, extremely tolerant, and so kind and affectionate that—God forbid—He sent His only son to be killed to save mankind and his blood to become the ransom for the sins of sinners! Is the God described in the Qur’an really harsh and wrathful, or merciful and compassionate?
The reply to the abovementioned misgiving is that God has the Attributes of both mercy and wrath. He is both “the Most Merciful of all the merciful” [arham ar-rahimin] and “the most severe of punishers” [ashadd al-mu‘aqibin]. Out of 114 surahs [chapters] of the Qur’an, 113 surahs begin with “In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful” [bismillah ’ir-rahman ’ir-rahim] and in both descriptions of Allah His Attribute of mercy is mentioned, i.e. “All-beneficent” [ar-rahman] and “All-merciful” [ar-rahim].
Only one surah of the Qur’an (Surah at-Tawbah or Bara’ah 9) does not begin with “In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful” but in Surah an-Naml (27) “In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful” is repeated twice. Apart from at the beginning of the surah, it is also mentioned in the middle, when Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba, reads the letter of Hadhrat Sulayman (Prophet Solomon) (‘a) which begins with “In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful” to her.[67] In any case, “In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful” which contains two attributes of divine mercy is repeated 114 times in the Qur’an. But alongside the description of boundless divine mercy, some verses also reveals God’s attribute of wrath and anger. Take for example the following passages:
 ...æóÇááøåõ ÚóÒöíÒñ Ðõæ ÇäÊöÞóÇãò 
“…And Allah is all-mighty, avenger.”[68]
ÅöäøóÇ ãöäó ÇáúãõÌúÑöãöíäó ãõäÊóÞöãõæäó
“…Indeed We shall wreak vengeance upon the guilty.”[69]
...ÝóÈóÂÄõæÇ ÈöÛóÖóÈò Úóáóì ÛóÖóÈò æóáöáúßóÇÝöÑöíäó ÚóÐóÇÈñ ãõåöíäñ
“…Thus they earned wrath upon wrath, and there is a humiliating punishment for the faithless.”[70]
If the Europeans describe their God as kind and merciful only and say that “Our God has no wrath and anger”, then they have not correctly described God as described in Islam and the Qur’an. Our belief is that God’s mercy supersedes and prevails over His wrath and anger. Thus, God said:
...ßóÊóÈó Úóáì? äóÝÓöåö ?áÑøóÍúãóÉ...
“…He has made mercy incumbent upon Himself...”[71]
This concept is mentioned in many mutawatir traditions reported by both Sunnis and Shi‘ahs. It is mentioned in our supplications, thus:
íóÇ ãóäú ÓóÈóÞóÊú ÑóÍúãóÊõåõ ÛóÖóÈóåõ
“O He whose mercy supersedes His wrath!”
That is, God’s mercy does not negate but rather prevails over His wrath. As long as divine wisdom, grace and favor demand it, His servants shall savor His grace and mercy and His wrath and anger shall not surface except when it is necessary for some people to incur His wrath and anger. As such, we can observe that God sent His wrath on the communities of ‘Ad,[72] Thamud[73] and Lut (Lot)[74] annihilating them, also mentioning why in the Qur’an.
It was because apostles of Allah repeatedly invited them to the path of guidance and, miracles and divine signs were also shown to them. Yet, they chose rebellion and corruption, and did not give up their wicked and abominable acts. They further indulged in sins and defied the commands of God and His apostle and incurred the wrath and anger of God to serve as a moral lesson for the corrupt and obstinate.
Islam is based upon mercy and compassion, not harshness and violence, and its guiding principle is mercy. However, in certain cases the Creator needs to use strictness, severity of action and violence in order to correct the totally misguided. Logically, a God should possess the attribute of mercy as well as that of wrath, anger and vengeance.
The necessity of confronting enemies and hypocrites, and eliminating impediments to guidance
Islam initially calls for the guidance and enlightenment of people. At the same time, the Qur’an enjoins struggle against those who hinder the spread of the message of the apostles, the Prophet of Islam in particular. As such, during the time of the Apostle (s) and the Infallibles (‘a), jihad was initially ordained to remove the impediments to the guidance of people. On this basis, when the Prophet of Islam (s) began his prophetic mission, the issue was not whether he could interfere in the affairs of the Byzantium or Persian empires.
The truth of the matter is that the Apostle (s) was sent for the guidance of all mankind. So, if someone, be it the Shah of Persia or the king of Byzantine, opposed the invitation of the Apostle (s), it was incumbent upon him to wage war against him. For this reason, he sent letters to the different leaders of the world at that time, inviting them to Islam and asking them to make way for him and his envoys to guide the people in their respective countries.
Thus, jihad is one of the indisputable principles of Islam and all Muslim sects—Sunnis and Shi‘ahs—unanimously agree on it without having any dissenting opinion, and the reason behind the waging of war and jihad against the leaders of unfaith was that they hindered the guidance and enlightenment of their people and the message of the Apostle (s). As such, in order to remove these obstacles, the Messenger of Allah (s) was duty-bound to wage war against them. Given these facts, how can one say that Islam does not permit and deem necessary to wage war and jihad? Can we dismiss and conceal the Qur’anic verses about jihad and the struggle against the faithless, the hypocrites and enemies of Islam?
Yes, war and resistance against the enemies of God is one of the indisputable principles of Islam. It is true that in the decrees on jihad Islam has enjoined the observance of the highest humanitarian principles, but at the same time, it emphasizes that we have to fight the obstinate and those who consciously oppose the truth, the religion of God, and, violate treaties:
ÝóÞóÇÊöáõæÇú ÃóÆöãøóÉó ÇáúßõÝúÑö Åöäøóåõãú áÇó ÃóíúãóÇäó áóåõãú áóÚóáøóåõãú íóäÊóåõæäó
“Then fight the leaders of unfaith—indeed they have no [commitment to] pledges—maybe they will relinquish.”[75]
Similarly, in Surah at-Tahrim, verse 9, and Surah at-Tawbah, verse 73, God commands the Apostle (s) and the Muslims to fight the faithless and the hypocrites, and deal with them sternly and violently:
ÅöäøóãóÇ íóäúåóÇßõãõ Çááøóåõ Úóäö ÇáøóÐöíäó ÞóÇÊóáõæßõãú Ýöí ÇáÏøöíäö æóÃóÎúÑóÌõæßõã ãöä ÏöíóÇÑößõãú æóÙóÇåóÑõæÇ Úóáóì ÅöÎúÑóÇÌößõãú Ãóä Êóæóáøóæúåõãú
“Allah forbids you only in regard to those who made war against you on account of religion and expelled you from your homes and supported [others] in your expulsion, that you make friends with them.”[76]
íóÇ ÃóíøõåóÇ ÇáäøóÈöíøõ ÌóÇåöÏö ÇáúßõÝøóÇÑó æóÇáúãõäóÇÝöÞöíäó æóÇÛúáõÙú Úóáóíúåöãú æóãóÃúæóÇåõãú Ìóåóäøóãõ æóÈöÆúÓó ÇáúãóöíÑõ
“O Prophet! Wage jihad against the faithless and the hypocrites, and be severe with them. Their refuge shall be hell, and it is an evil destination.”[77]
(The said writer has written that the verses on jihad pertain to the faithless and did not notice that in the abovementioned verse God had ordered jihad against the hypocrites from within the community in addition to the faithless.)
Elsewhere, God also says thus:
íóÇ ÃóíøõåóÇ ÇáøóÐöíäó ÂãóäõæÇ ÞóÇÊöáõæÇ ÇáøóÐöíäó íóáõæäóßõã ãøöäó ÇáúßõÝøóÇÑö æóáöíóÌöÏõæÇ Ýöíßõãú ÛöáúÙóÉð æóÇÚúáóãõæÇ Ãóäøó Çááøåó ãóÚó ÇáúãõÊøóÞöíäó
“O, you who have faith! Fight the faithless who are in your vicinity, and let them find severity in you, and know that Allah is with the God-wary.”[78]
In the above mentioned verse, God commands the Muslims to fight the faithless who are living in their vicinity, not to be heedless of them, and express their wrath, severity and firmness to their faithless neighbors so that they are afraid and do not commit treachery and hatch any plot. God also says in another verse, thus:
æóÃóÚöÏøõæÇ áóåõã ãóÇ ÇÓúÊóØóÚúÊõã ãöä ÞõæøóÉò æóãöä ÑöÈóÇØö ÇáúÎóíúáö ÊõÑúåöÈõæäó Èöåö ÚóÏõæøó Çááøåö æóÚóÏõæøóßõãú æóÂÎóÑöíäó ãöä Ïõæäöåöãú áÇó ÊóÚúáóãõæäóåõãõ Çááøåõ íóÚúáóãõåõãú...
“Prepare against them whatever you can of [military] power and war-horses, and create awe thereby in the enemy of Allah, and your enemy, and others besides them, whom you do not know, but Allah knows them...”[79]
(I advise those who are familiar with Arabic literature to see for themselves the equivalent of the word irhab in other languages. If I would mention it myself, newspapers will place headlines saying so-and-so supports terrorism.)
In any case, the Qur’an has enjoined severe and harsh treatment of those who cannot be dealt with logically, who impudently obstruct the path of guidance, enlightenment and invitation of the Apostle (s), and consciously wage war against Islam out of animosity and contumacy. The Muslims are further instructed to strike dread and fear in them so that they do not entertain the idea of attacking, betraying and rendering a blow to the Muslims. It cannot be said to them: “Your religion is for you, and our religion is for us. Let us live together peacefully under the bond of brotherhood and friendship.”
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