Ar-Ra’ūf
The All-Kind
It refers to The One with complete kindness. Kindness is the highest level of mercy. Whoever shows kindness to people will be shown kindness by Allah Almighty. The great name ‘the All-Kind’ occurs 10 times in the Qur’an.
An example came in Sūrat Al-Hadīd:
(And surely Allah is indeed All-Kind, Most Merciful to you.) (Sūrat AlHadīd: 9) Another example came in Sūrat Āl-‘Imrān: (And Allah warns you of Himself, and Allah is All-Kind to (His) slaves.) (Sūrat Āl-‘Imrān: 30) The name ‘the Ever-Compassionate’ occurs in association with the name ‘the Most Merciful’ in eight verses.
In light of this noble name, I would say:
1. This name instills love for Allah Almighty in one’s heart and hope for what He has. No one is ever more kind or merciful than He.
2. Kindness originally comes from Allah Almighty. He is Compassionate towards His servants. He revealed the scriptures and sent the messengers to them, made it easy for them to worship Him and He accepts repentance from them. Also, His compassion is shown as a result of
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invocation. Allah responds to His servants when they invoke Him sincerely and earnestly. (And those who came after them, saying, Our Lord, forgive us and our brethren who have preceded us in faith, and do not put in our hearts any rancor towards those who believe, Our Lord, You are All-Kind, Most Merciful.) (Sūrat Al-Hashr: 10)
3. It is said regarding the difference between kindness and mercy, as Al-Qurtubi mentioned: Kindness is a blissful favor from all aspects; whereas mercy may be painful at the moment, with a blissful outcome later. Hence, Allah Almighty says about the punishment of the adulterers, (And do not be taken by kindness for them in the religion of Allah.) (Sūrat Al-Nūr:2) He does not use the word ‘mercy’ here, for beating sinners on account of their disobedience is actually a form of mercy towards them, but not kindness. In fact, if kindness engulfs a person, he suffers no harm.
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