Ihsan

﷽

Ihsan means doing something well, perfectly and sincerely. In Islamic terminology its meanings vary according to usage and it may mean one of two things:

(1) When it is used alone and is not mentioned in conjunction with Islam or iman, it refers to the religion as a whole, as stated above with regard to the words Islam and iman.

(2) When it is used in conjunction with either or both of the words Islam and iman, the meaning is perfecting one’s outward and inward deeds.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) explained it in a manner that no other created being apart from him (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) could have explained it, because of the gift of concise speech that Allah bestowed upon him.

He (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

“It means worshipping Allah as if you can see Him, and although you cannot see Him, He can see you.” This is the highest degree of Islam. Those who attain this are the foremost in doing good, the ones who will be closest to Allah in the highest degrees of Paradise.

Categories of ihsan

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has told us that the degree of ihsan is of two categories, one of which is higher than the other.

First: The first position is the higher of the two; This means worshipping Allah as if you can see Him. This means that a person acts as if he can see Allah in his heart, so his heart is filled with light and the matters of the unseen become almost like that which is visible (i.e., it becomes very real to him). Whoever worships Allah with awareness of His nearness and turning to Him and acts as if he is before Allah and looking at Him is bound to fear Him and venerate Him.

Second: The second position is that of sincerity and awareness that Allah is always watching. This means that a person acts with an awareness that Allah can see him and is close to him. If a person bears this in mind and acts accordingly, then he will be sincere towards Allah because this awareness will prevent him from paying attention to anyone other than Allah or doing anything for the sake of anyone else. If a person achieves this position, it will become easy for him to reach the position described above.

Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said,

“and although you cannot see Him, He can see you.”

If a person truly understands when worshipping Allah that He can see him and knows all his deeds, hidden and visible, inward and outward, and that nothing is hidden from Him, then it will be easy for him to move from the lower position to the higher, which is the constant awareness that Allah is close to His slave and is with him, because it is as if he can see Him. We ask Allah of His great bounty.