Mercy is a favour from Allah which He places in the hearts of whomsoever He wills. Verily, Allah will have mercy on His servants who are merciful. Allah is the Most Compassionate the Most Merciful. He loves the merciful and calls to mercy. He orders His servants to enjoin patience and mercy. A person may lack mercy for any number of reasons, among them, an abundance of sins and disobedience. They stain their hearts so much so that they ultimately blind them until their hearts become harder than stones. Allah says of the Children of Israel: 'And yet, after all this, your hearts hardened and became like rocks, or even harder' (2:74).
Allah also says about them when they opposed and rebelled against the divine law: 'Then, for having broken their solemn pledge, We rejected them and caused their hearts to harden' (5:13).
Among the things that cause a loss of mercy is arrogance with wealth and pride with riches. Allah says: 'Nay, verily, man becomes grossly overweening whenever he believes himself to be self-sufficient' (96:6-7).
