Ihsan (Excellence or perfection of worship) By Imam Ibn Rajab Hanbali

Ihsan

By Imam Ibn Rajab Hanbali

(Taken from  Jami' al-'Ulum wa'l-Hikam; second Hadith explanation)

Translated by Abdus Samad Clark

[The portion of the Hadith being explained here is  “He (the questioner) said, 'Tell me about ihsan.' He (The Holy Prophet Muhammed SAWS) said, 'That you worship Allah as if you see Him, for if you don't see Him then truly He sees you.' (Sahih Muslim)]

'Ihsan' in the Quran:

As for ihsan, it has been mentioned in Qur'an in many places, sometimes coupled with iman, sometimes with Islam, and sometimes coupled with taqwa or right action.

It is coupled with iman in His words, exalted is He, "Those who have iman and do right actions are not to blame for anything they have eaten provided they have taqwa and iman and do right actions, and then again have taqwa and iman, and then have taqwa and do good (ahsanou). Allah loves good-doers (muhsinun)," (Surat al-Ma'idah: 93), and in His words, exalted is He, "But as for those who have iman and do right actions, We will not let the wage of good-doers (muhsinun) go to waste." (Surat al-Kahf: 30)

It is paired with Islam as in His words, exalted is He, "Not so! All who submit themselves completely to Allah and are good-doers (muhsinun) will find their reward with their Lord," (Surat al-Baqarah: 111), and in His words, exalted is He, "Those who submit themselves completely to Allah and do good (ahsanou) have grasped the Firmest Handhold." (Surah Luqman: 21)

It is paired with taqwa in His words, exalted is He, "Allah is with those who have taqwa of Him and with those who are good-doers (muhsinun)." (Surat an-Nahl: 128)

It is mentioned alone by itself in His words, exalted is He, "Those who do good (ahsanou) will have the best and more!" (Surah Yunus: 26) It is established in Sahih Muslim from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that the explanation of the 'increase' is gazing upon the face of Allah, exalted is He, in the Garden, which is commensurate with His making it a recompense for the people of ihsan, because ihsan is that the mumin should worship his Lord in the world in the manner of being present and with fearful watchfulness as if he sees Him with his heart and gazes on Him during his worship. The reward of that is gazing upon Allah with the eyes in the next life. The opposite of this is that which Allah, exalted is He, informs us of the recompense of the kuffar in the next life, "No indeed! Rather that Day they will be veiled from their Lord," (Surat al-Mutaffifin: 15) which He makes their reward for their condition in the world, because their reward for that state is that they are veiled from seeing Him in the next life.

'Ihsan' in Hadith:

His words, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on ihsan, "That you should worship Allah as if you see Him..." indicate that the slave worships Allah, exalted is He, in this way, which is bearing in his consciousness His nearness and that he is in front of Him as if he sees Him, and that requires that one have fear, awe and exaltation [of Allah], as has been narrated in the version of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, "That you should fear Allah as if you see Him." It also requires that one be sincere in one's worship and exert oneself to make it good, whole and complete. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, counselled a group of his companions with this piece of advice, as Ibrahim al-Hijri narrated from Abu'l-Ahwas that Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "My intimate friend, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, counselled me to fear Allah as if I see Him, for if I do not see Him, then He sees me."

It has been narrated from Ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with both of them, that he said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took hold of a part of my body and said, 'Worship Allah as if you see Him!'" An-Nasa'i narrated it from a hadith of Zayd ibn Arqam both attributing it [to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace] as a marfu' hadith and stopping short [with it at Zayd] as a mawquf hadith, "Be as if you see Allah, for if you do not see Him He sees you."

At-Tabarani narrated from a hadith of Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, that, "A man said, 'Messenger of Allah, tell me something and make it comprehensive!' He replied, 'Pray the prayer as if you were bidding farewell, for if you do not see Him, He sees you.'"

The famous hadith of Harithah has been narrated in various ways, in some of which it is mursal [attributed to the Prophet but without the connecting link of the person among the Followers who narrated it from the Companion] and also with a full chain of transmission, but the mursal form is more authentic. There is in it that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, asked him, "Harithah, how are you this morning?" He said, "This morning I have become a true mumin." He said, "Think about what you are saying! Because every statement has a reality." He said, "Messenger of Allah, my self dislikes the world, so that it is sleepless at night and thirsty in the day, and it is as if I am gazing upon the Throne of my Lord appearing, and it is as if I am gazing upon the people of the Garden in the Garden and how they visit each other in it, and as if I am gazing upon the people of the Fire and how they howl in it." He said, "You have seen, so remain firm. [You are] a slave whom Allah has illuminated the iman in his heart."

It is narrated of the hadith of Abu Umamah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, may Allah be pleased with him, advised a man saying, "Be modest before Allah with the modesty you would have before two right-acting men of your close family who never leave you." It is narrated in another version, "Be modest before your Lord."

It is narrated of Mu'adh that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, counselled him when he sent him to the Yemen and said, "Be modest before Allah as you would be modest before a man of your family of whom you have some awe." The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was asked about unrestrainedly uncovering the private parts and he said, "Allah has more right that one should have modesty before Him."

Abu'd-Darda' advised a man and said to him, "Worship Allah as if you see Him." 'Urwah ibn az-Zubayr asked Ibn 'Umar for his daughter's hand while the two of them were doing tawaf and he didn't answer him. Later he met him and apologised saying, "We were in tawaf visualising Allah before our eyes." Abu Nu'aym and others narrated it.

Explaination:

About his saying, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, "For if you do not see Him, He sees you," it is said that it [the latter] is like a cause of the first, because when the slave is commanded to be fearfully watchful of Allah, exalted is He, in his worship and to bear in his heart His nearness to His slave to such an extent that it is as if the slave sees Him, then that is difficult for him and he can seek help in that with his trust that Allah sees him and watches over his private and his public lives, his inward and his outward, and that nothing of him is hidden from Him. When he makes a reality of this station then it becomes easier for him to move on to the second station, the perpetual fixing of the gaze of his inner sight on the nearness of Allah to His slave and His 'withness' [the fact that He is 'with' His slave when he remembers Him] so that it is as if he sees Him. Someone said that rather it indicates that whoever finds it difficult to worship Allah, exalted is He, as if he sees Him, then let him worship Allah on the basis that Allah sees him and watches over him, and let him be modest before His gaze towards him, as one of the gnostics said, "Fear Allah, lest He should become the most insignificant of those who look at you."

One of them said, "Fear Allah according to the measure of His power over you, and be modest before Allah according to the measure of His nearness to you."

One of the women gnostics (A'rif- knower of Allah) of the first right-acting generations said, "Whoever acts for the sake of Allah as one who has direct witnessing is a gnostic, and whoever acts on the basis of Allah's witnessing him is sincere." She indicated the two above-mentioned stations:

 First the station of sincerity, which is that the slave should act keeping in consciousness His (Allah's) witnessing of him, watching over him and nearness to him. When the slave seeks to keep this in his consciousness during his actions, and he works on that basis then he is sincere towards Allah, exalted is He, since his seeking to keep that in his consciousness during his action prevents him from turning to other than Allah and intending any other in his action.

Second, [she indicated] the station of witnessing, which is that the slave acts according to the requirements of his witnessing of Allah, exalted is He, in his heart, and it is that the heart is illuminated by iman, and the inner sight pierces through to gnosis, so much so that the Unseen becomes as if it were right in front of the eyes.

 This is the reality of the station of ihsan indicated in the hadith of Jibril, peace be upon him, and the people of these stations have different degrees according to the strength of penetration of their inner sight.