The meaning of al-Ihsaan

Shaikh Muhammad Ibn Saaleh al-`Uthaymeen رحمه الله said:

Then (Jibreel عليه السلام) said: “Tell me about al-Ihsaan.” Al-Ihsaan is a derivative of Ahsan (better) Yuhsan (improve), and it is (exerting efforts in) doing good.

Doing al-Ihsaan in the rights of the Creator (means): The foundation of one’s worship is based on: a) sincerity to Allaah تعالى and b) in accordance… with the (Sunnah) of the Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم. So whenever a person is (more) sincere and (more precise) in following (the Sunnah), the better he gets.

As for doing al-Ihsaan to the creation: then it is doing good to them by (spending) wealth or having good manners with them and other than that.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “al-Ihsaan is that you worship Allaah…”, and the worship of Allaah is not correct except with two matters and they are: a) sincerely for Allaah (alone) and b) in accordance with the (Sunnah) of the Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم; i.e. a person should worship Allaah سبحانه as if he is seeing Him تعالى. Worship of seeking and yearning; and the worship of seeking and yearning is when a man finds himself urging for it because he is seeking the One whom he loves. So he worships as if he is seeing Him, worshiping Him alone, repenting to Him and drawing closer to Him سبحانه وتعالى.

“for though you don’t see Him, He, verily, sees you” meaning: Worship Him upon fear and do not oppose Him, because if you oppose Him, He تعالى verily sees you. So, worship Him, like the worship of the one who is afraid of Him, running away from His punishment and retribution. The Ahl al-`Ibaadah (the Worshipers) deem this as a lower level than the previous one.

So al-Ihsaan has two levels: a) the rank of seeking and b) the rank of fleeing.

a) The rank of seeking: that you worship Allaah تعالى as if you are seeing Him.

b) The rank of fleeing: that you worship Allaah تعالى knowing that He عز وجل is ever watching you – so you are cautious. As Allaah تعالى has said:

﴿وَيُحَذِّرُكُمُ اللَّـهُ نَفْسَهُ﴾

{And Allaah warns you against Himself} [Surah aal-`Imraan (3): 30]

So from this we know that these two sentences are dissimilar and that the first (rank) is more perfect; and that is why the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned the second (rank) as latter.

[Sharh al-Arbaeen al-Nawawee (1/53) of Shaikh Muhammad Ibn Saaleh al-Uthaymeen رحمه الله]