1]Biography of the Prophet

1]
Commentary on the verse "And We have sent you (O Muhammad) not but as
a mercy for the Alameen (mankind, jinns and all that exists)"
[al-Anbiya' 21:107]
~
Some people make a connection between the fact that the Messenger
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not kill anyone except
one man during his life and the verse in which Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning): "And Wehave sent you (O Muhammad )
not but as a mercy for the Alameen (mankind, jinns and all that
exists)" [al-Anbiya' 21:107]. Is there any basisfor making this
connection?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of themeaning): "And We
have sent you (O Muhammad ) not but as a mercy for theAalameen
(mankind, jinns and all that exists)" [al-Anbiya' 21:107]. The
scholars differed concerning the 'Aalameen (translated here as
"mankind, jinns and all that exists"; also often translated as "the
worlds") to whom the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) was sent as a mercy.
Ibn Jibreen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Here Allah, may He be exalted, says to His Prophet Muhammad (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him): We have not sent you, O Muhammad, to
Our creation except as a mercy to those to whom We have sent you of
Our creation.
Then the commentators differed as to the meaning of this verse: does
it mean as a mercy to all of the world to whom Muhammad was sent,
believers and disbelievers alike? Or doesit mean to the believers only
and not the disbelievers?
Some of them said that what is meant is to all theworld, both
believers and disbelievers.
It was narrated that Ibn 'Abbaas said: As far as the one who believes
in Allah and the Last Day is concerned, mercy will be decreed for him
(by virtueof the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him))
in this world and the Hereafter; as for the one who does not believe
in Allah and His Messenger, he will be saved (by virtue of the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)) from the punishments that
befell the previous landslides and being pelted with stones from
heaven.
Others said that what is meant is he is a mercy to the believers only,
to the exclusion of the disbelievers.
The more correct of the two opinions is that which was narrated from
Ibn 'Abbaas, which says that Allah sent His Prophet Muhammad
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) as a mercy to all the
world, both believers and disbelievers. As for the believers, Allah
guided them through him and caused them, through their belief in him
and their acting upon what hebrought from Allah, to enter Paradise. As
for the disbelievers, by virtue of him He warded off from them the
hastening of thepunishment that came upon the nations who disbelieved
in their Messengers before him.
End quote from Tafseer at-Tabari, 18/551-552. See also Tafseer Ibn
Katheer, 5/385; Tafseer as-Sa'di, p. 532
Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (mayAllah have mercy on him) said:
In the sending of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) there is mercy even for his enemies, in that the punishment will
not be hastened for them.
End quote from Fataawa al-Hadeethiyyah, p. 34
One of the things that explained this universal mercy by the sending
of our Prophet Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is
the verse in which Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):
"And (remember) when they said: 'O Allah! If this (the Qur'an) is
indeed the truth (revealed) from You,then rain down stones on us from
the sky or bring on us a painful torment. '
And Allah would not punish them while you (Muhammad ) are amongst
them, nor will He punish them while they seek (Allah's) Forgiveness."
[al-Anfaal 8:32-33].
Shaykh Muhammad Rasheed Rida (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
It was not in accordance with Allah's way or laws, or His mercy or
wisdom, to punish them when you,O Messenger, are among them; rather He
sent you as a mercy to the worlds and as a blessing, not as
apunishment. Moreover it was not His way to punishthose like them who
rejected the Messengers when they were still among them. Rather He
would first bring them (His Messengers) out from among them as Ibn
'Abbaas said.
End quote from Tafseer al-Manaar, 9/545
Think about this story that highlight the attitudeof the Prophet of
mercy (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) when the people of
at-Taa'if rejected him and harmed him severely, when all he was doing
was calling them to believe in the Oneness of Allah, and he did not
want anything from them apart from that.
Al-Bukhaari (3231) and Muslim (1795) narrated that 'Aa'ishah (may
Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said tothe Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him): Was there ever a day that was worsefor you than
the day of Uhud? He said: :->