(Mercy is compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.)
One of my favorite examples of how mercy should be shown was in a tale called The Fisherman and the Jinnee. The Jinnee was furious because he's been locked up in a bottle, that the fisherman found by chance, for 1800 years. Even though the Fisherman set him free from the small, cramped bottle, he was ready to kill him without any hesitation because no one else freed him over the years. The poor Fishermen begged for mercy "Spare me, mighty Jinnee, and Allah will spare you; kill me, and so shall Allah destroy you!" (130) but the Jinnee refused to show him any pity for something he did not do. So the fisherman found a clever way to trick the Jinnee, by asking him how could he fit in the bottle. The gullible Jinnee fell for it and was put back into the bottle and begged for mercy so that he would not be put back in the ocean. Now you see that's where I became dumbfounded. How could you ask someone to show you mercy when minuets prior, you refused to show you any? As Hilda said in her blog the other day, "Mercy is when forgiveness is given to someone/something that does not deserve it",and the Jinnee definitely does not deserve any form of mercy from the Fisherman. So in the end he's thrown back into the ocean to await Judgement day.
As the golden rule says: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I understand that letting go of grudges can be hard, I have a hard time with letting them go too, but we have to learn. WE CAN LEARN. Showing forgiveness/mercy may be hard at first but I'm sure we all can do it.
So before I go, I have a question. Mercy, to me, means to give the benefit of the doubt; to forgive and or let go. What does mercy mean to you?
I agree with your definition of mercy to answer your question (: But to add on to what you said about the jinnee asking for mercy after first threatening to kill the fisherman, that reminds me of the sayings "don't burn your bridges" or "don't bite the hand that feeds you" because basically, both these quotes are saying don't dispute with others and then ask them for favors.
ReplyDeleteI love what you said there! I agree 100%!
DeleteI agree with your statement that "mercy mean to give the benefit of the doubt". However I've never associated mercy with kindness or compassion. I've always connected it to pity and even disgust sometimes. Maybe I believe that because mercy most often means letting someone keep their life. So I guess how we think of mercy is directly affected by what kind of mercy is being given. Whether it be letting someone keep their life or simply letting go of a mistake and leaving it at that. I liked your visual elements a lot!
ReplyDeleteI see exactly what you mean and I agree. It depends on how it's being used!
DeleteThanks Gen :)
In my opinion, mercy depends on the persons involved and the situation. One could be faced with a situation with a classmate in which being merciful would involve holding back the consequences they feel necessary to punish the person. In another situation with perhaps a coworker, one could be merciful by forgiving and moving forward . Mercy is something that depends on the individual bestowing it. Everyone is different and mercy is different to everyone. Good Article Amirah!
ReplyDeleteI love how you set up your blog! Mercy is forgiveness given to something or some one who doesn't deserve it. I agree with Hilda essentially. For example you wouldn't forgive a newborn child you would have mercy on them.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Alyssa - Mercy to me involves forgiveness in some way. To be merciful to someone could involve giving them less of a severe consequence or even completely forgiving. Mercy also involves putting yourself in someone else's shoes so that you can show them show them mercy.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed how you started it off with the definition and how put human beings in the mix
ReplyDeleteThat is Epic
I loved how you started with the actual definition. Also I really enjoyed how you put in that it is hard for you to forgive and let go of things because for most it is probably the same. I know that for me we have a similar view points. I really try to show people forgiveness but sometimes it takes way longer than intended but like you said we can all learn to show mercy. (:
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