What does the Quran say about mercy?
Mercy is the attribute the Qur’an returns to most. All but one of its 114 chapters open by naming God as the Most Merciful, one chapter is titled after the attribute itself, and the text states that God has decreed mercy upon Himself Qur’an 6:12 and that His mercy encompasses all things Qur’an 7:156. It also forbids despairing of it, however much a person has done Qur’an 39:53.
Why does almost every chapter begin with mercy?
113 of the Qur’an’s 114 chapters open with the same formula — in the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Especially Merciful. The two words used, ar-Raḥmān and ar-Raḥīm, share a root that also gives the Arabic word for womb. The ninth chapter is the single exception and does not carry the opening. Beyond the chapter openings, Qur’an 55:1 begins by naming ar-Raḥmān outright, and the chapter takes that name as its title.
Has God bound Himself to mercy?
The Qur’an states it in those terms. Qur’an 6:12 says that He has decreed upon Himself mercy, and Qur’an 6:54 repeats the phrase while addressing those who have done wrong out of ignorance and then repented. The scope given is unrestricted: My mercy encompasses all things Qur’an 7:156. In Qur’an 40:7 the angels are described as asking forgiveness for those on earth, saying that God encompasses all things in mercy and knowledge.
What does the Qur’an say to someone who thinks they have gone too far?
It addresses that person directly, and the verse is unusually unqualified. Qur’an 39:53 tells those who have transgressed against themselves not to despair of the mercy of God, stating that God forgives all sins. The same posture appears in Qur’an 12:87, where despairing of relief from God is described as the condition of those who reject Him — despair itself is treated as the error. Qur’an 15:56 puts it as a question: who despairs of the mercy of his Lord except those astray?
Is mercy described as something people owe each other?
Yes, and not only as an attribute of God. Qur’an 90:17 describes those who counsel one another to patience and counsel one another to compassion, placing it among the deeds that constitute the steep path the passage has just described. Qur’an 21:107 states the purpose of the Prophet’s sending in the same terms: We have not sent you except as a mercy to the worlds. The word is used for the message itself, not only for the one who sends it.
Does the Qur’an balance mercy against punishment?
It holds both, and it does so openly rather than resolving the tension. Qur’an 15:49-50 instructs the Prophet to inform God’s servants that He is the Forgiving, the Merciful — and, in the very next verse, that His punishment is the painful punishment. The two statements are deliberately adjacent. Qur’an 7:156 pairs the same elements: punishment is described as something God directs as He wills, while mercy is described as encompassing all things. The Qur’an gives mercy the wider scope without removing the other.
Common questions
- What does Ar-Rahman mean?
- It is one of the names of God used throughout the Qur’an, from a root conveying mercy and compassion. It appears in the opening formula of almost every chapter, and Surah 55 is titled with it Qur’an 55:1.
- Which chapter of the Qur’an does not begin with the mercy formula?
- The ninth, Surah at-Tawbah. It is the only one of the 114 that does not open with the formula naming God as the Most Merciful.
- Does the Qur’an say God forgives all sins?
- Qur’an 39:53 states that God forgives all sins, addressed to those who have transgressed against themselves, and instructs them not to despair of His mercy.
Sources cited on this page
Every claim above is traceable. Qur’an references open with several translations side by side, since translations differ. Where a point is not settled by the Qur’an itself, the narration is named so you can see what it rests on.
The Surahs this page draws on
Every verse quoted above comes from one of these chapters. Each is set out in full — why it was revealed, and what it teaches.