God's forgiveness is limitless

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
God's mercy and forgiving is limitless, His mercy goes beyond the limits of any imagination . There are many verses that speak about God's infinit tolerance and mercy.
God forgives and rewards with much in exchanges of the little . His door of forgiveness is always open to those who wish his forgiveness .
A Moslem should not lose hope and throw himself in despair if he commits any sin, also a Moslem should not belittle the act of goodness whatever it is
God says in the Holy Quran what means " Say: My slaves who have been prodigal to their own hurt! Despair not of the mercy of Allah, Who forgiveth all sins. Lo! He is the Forgiving, the Merciful." ( Al-Zamur :53)
In Islam , good deeds towards animals ,Moslems and even non-Moslems could be the reason for forgiving heinous sins .
It is well-known that adultery is banned in all religions , it is a heinous sin that results in many dangerous social ills .The following real story reflects how spacious the scope of His mercy is .
Prophet Mohummed says " Once a thirsty dog was going around a well trying hard to drink from it but couldn't . A whore from a Jewish tribe , on seeing this , took off her shoes and filled it with water to quench the thirst of the dog . Though she was a whore , God remitted her sins for quenching the thirst of the dog ."
Also the prophet says in a hadith " A woman entered the hell because she imprisoned a cat , neither did she feed it nor did she leave it to go to find what it can eat "
Also the following real story that was told by the prophet reflects how great God's mercy is " while a man was walking, he got so thirsty , so he decided to go down to a well to drink , when he went up he found a dog standing near the dog out of breath because of thirst . "This dog is within an ace of death because of thirst just like me " , The man thought . He went down again to the well and filled his shoe with water and went up to quench the thirst of the dog . God , as a result , remitted the man's sins "
These two real stories reflect how great God's mercy is .
God's mercy encompasses all the living beings , the prophet tells these two stories which have different meanings ; A Moslem's love and help should not be confined to his human race or his co-religionists .
The first story is about a woman who took adultery as a craft , a sin that displeases God , a sin that will surely incur God's wrath . But all the sins of the world are nothing if compared with God's mercy . Though quenching the thirst of a dog is something that is not so much , she got a reward that is so much . God stresses this fact in the Holy Quran , God says what means "Is there any Reward for Good other than Good?" (AL-Rahman-60)
This is a lesson from which we understand that we should be positive in our society , we should be helpful to non-Moslems in time of need ,if this was the result of quenching the thirst of a dog ,what could be reward if you saved any person , be a Moslem or Non-Moslem.
Prophet Mohummed said when he was asked by his companions " Can we be rewarded for animals? " the prophet answered saying surely you will be rewarded for every living creature ."
A Moslem should help and should be merciful to others and even animals .
Prophet Mohummed says that the prophet Abraham used to walk the mile or the two in search for a poor to host him and feed him , he used to do that every day . Once a Magus came to Abraham asking him to host him for food ,
"I won't host you unless you change your religion ." said Abraham.
The man went away depressed . At this moment , Abraham received revelation from God which blamed him saying " O' Abraham you refused to feed him unless he changes his religion . We have been feeding him for seventy years thought he is infidel ….what will happen , if you host him? . Abraham rushed after the man and invited him to food , the man said to Abraham " what is up ". Abraham told him about revelation . The man nodding his head said " Does He treat me this way ?!!!
At once the man asked Abraham to show him Islam and the man embraced Islam .
Allah says in the Holy Quran what means "God forbids you not, with regard to those who fight you not for (your) Faith nor drive you out of your homes, from dealing kindly and justly with them: for God loveth those who are just. (Al-Mom-Tahena :8]
Another story that stresses the same meaning is that a man came to the prophet asking him for a pious act that would lead him to the paradise . The prophet said " Is that the reason why you came here?"
The man said " yes " so the prophet said to him " Tell nothing but the truth and give in charity the surplus" "I can't" , said the man .
"Feed the poor and spread the greeting of Islam " I can't" , said the man . Choose one of your camels and choose one of your containers and go to some weak poor people and bring them water and do that constantly till you get what you want "
I can't" , said the man .
By Magdy Abd Al-Shafy