A good Muslim is a good human being

Ihsan is a special Islamic term, defined by the famous hadith known as the Hadith of
Jibreel.
Once Angel Jibreel (peace be upon him) visited the Prophet (peace and blessings be
upon him) in the guise of a man and in the presence of the Companions. This
happened toward the end of the Prophetic mission and its purpose was to
summarize some fundamental teachings of Islam for the education of all of us.
Jibreel (peace be upon him) asked questions about Islam, Iman, Ihsan, the Day of
Judgment, and Fate. Regarding Ihsan, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon
him) responded: It is that you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him. For though
you see Him not, verily He is seeing you. (Muslim) Obviously, our worship will be at
its best when performed with that feeling. Ihsan, therefore, means striving for
excellence in achieving piety, through an overwhelming feeling of closeness to
Allah.
For anyone seeking spiritual purification, this is the goal. Abdul-Hameed Siddiqi, well
known for his English translation of Sahih Muslim, notes that what is implied by the
term tassawuf is nothing but Ihsan. With that in mind we can understand the joy of
the person who once reported to his mentor that he had achieved Ihsan in his
Prayers. He felt being in the presence of Allah every time he stood up for Prayer. It
is great that you should feel that way while praying, his mentor replied. But, do
you have the same feelings when you are dealing with others? Have you attained
Ihsan in your relations with your spouse and children; your relations with friends and
relatives? In all social relations? To the perplexed disciple he went on to explain
that one must not restrict the concept of Ihsan to the performance of ritual prayers.
The term is general and applies to all endeavours in our life.
The Sufi mentor in this story was Dr. Abdul Hai Arfi, himself a disciple of Maulana
Ashraf Ali Thanvi. One of the many great contributions of Maulana Thanvi was that
he reintroduced Islamic teachings regarding social relations and dealings with
others as a religious issue. His message was: You must become a good human being
before you can ever become a good Muslim. This message destroys a disastrous
and tragic misconception that reduces Islam to only the performance of the ritual
acts of worship -the pillars- thus robbing it of much of the rest of the building. A very
important and integral section of that building deals with our social relations. It is
concerned with how we behave in the family. How we interact with relatives, friends,
neighbours, colleagues, and all the rest of humanity.
The cornerstone of Islamic teachings in this area is the requirement that we do not
cause anyone any harm through our words or actions. A famous hadith states, A
Muslim is the one from whose hands and tongue other Muslims are safe. (Bukhari).
Keeping others safe from our hands and tongues does not only mean that we do not

hurl stones or abuses at them, it also means that we do not say or do anything that
would hurt them.
Islam wants to build a society, which is a model of civility, courtesy, and
consideration for others.
This hadith clearly describes this as a defining trait of a Muslim. While it refers to
other Muslims, scholars agree that it is a general requirement that equally applies
to non-Muslims except those who are at war with Muslims. A person who through his
intentional or careless actions or words inflicts unjustified pain on others is not
worthy of being called a Muslim.
We can begin to appreciate the value of this teaching by realizing that most
problems in our lives are man-made. Life can become living hell if there are
problems within the family: the tensions between the spouses, the frictions between
parents and children, the fights between brothers and sisters and other relatives.
Today these are common stories everywhere. But can these problems occur and
reach the intensity they do if everyone is genuinely concerned about not hurting
others? The same applies to relations between friends, neighbours, colleagues, and
communities.
Islam wants to build a society, which is a model of civility, courtesy, and
consideration for others. It does so by emphasizing these attributes as a matter of
faith. It is narrated on the authority of Abu Huraira that Allahs Messenger (peace
and blessings be upon him) said: Faith has over seventy branches or over sixty
branches, the most excellent of which is the declaration that there is no god but
Allah, and the humblest of which is the, removal of what is injurious from the path.
(Muslim) This is consideration. And obviously, there is no trace of Iman below this.
We see this consideration for others throughout the life of the Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him). Of course, such an attitude shows itself in
minor details. For example, Muslim narrated that whenever the Prophet (peace
and blessings be upon him) visited a group where some people were asleep and
others were not, he would greet them with a low enough voice so those awake could
hear him while those asleep would not be disturbed. Every night when he used to
get up for Tahajjud (late night Prayer) -a voluntary prayer for the rest of us- he
would walk out of the bed very quietly so as not to disturb his sleeping wife.
Whenever he saw someone commit a wrong that needed to be corrected in public
for the education of others, he would mention it in general terms, not naming the
person who did it. This last practice also shows the two extremes in this regard that
must be avoided. On the one hand is the temptation to compromise on the issue of
right and wrong to avoid hurt feelings. On the other is the temptation to correct the
wrong with total disregard to the fact that one might be insulting or injuring the
other person. While we may see these extreme attitudes in people who seem to be
poles apart in terms of their practice of religion, both stem from the same narrow

vision of religion that holds our dealings with others as worldly affairs, outside the
realm of Islam!
It is good to remember that Islam is a way of life. We must submit our whole life, not
a small subset of our choosing, to the commands and teachings of Allah and His
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Our commitment to Islam must not only
be life-long but also life-wide.

Need something? Just ask Allah

Is He [not best] who responds to the desperate one when he calls upon Him
(Quran, 27:62)
For whatever problem we have, whatever difficulty we find ourselves in, we have
the most powerful weapon to ward off the pain that plagues us. It is the weapon of
du`a. We know with certainty that Allah is Al-Mujeeb (The Responsive). We have
read many articles telling us about the importance of du`a, but in order for our
du`a to be truly meaningful, we must accompany that du`a with a certain
brokenness in the heart. This brokenness is the feeling of utter need, submission
and surrender to Allah, and realizing that truly it is only He who can get us out of
our state. In a beautiful hadith qudsi, Allah says:
O My servants, I have forbidden oppression for Myself and have made it forbidden
amongst you, so do not oppress one another.
O My servants, all of you are astray except for those I have guided, so seek
guidance of Me and I shall guide you,
O My servants, all of you are hungry except for those I have fed, so seek food of Me
and I shall feed you.
O My servants, all of you are naked except for those I have clothed, so seek clothing
of Me and I shall clothe you.
O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek
forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you.
O My servants, you will not attain harming Me so as to harm Me, and will not attain
benefitting Me so as to benefit Me.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the
jinn of you to be as pious as the most pious heart of any one man of you, that would
not increase My kingdom in anything.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the
jinn of you to be as wicked as the most wicked heart of any one man of you, that
would not decrease My kingdom in anything.
O My servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the
jinn of you to rise up in one place and make a request of Me, and were I to give
everyone what he requested, that would not decrease what I have, any more that a
needle decreases the sea if put into it.

O My servants, it is but your deeds that I reckon up for you and then recompense
you for, so let him who finds good, praise Allah, and let him who finds other than
that, blame no one but himself. (Muslim)
SubhanAllah (exalted is Allah), this hadith requires us to read it more than once to
truly grasp its meaning. In essence, Allah is telling us that everything is from Him
He possesses this whole world and all that is in it, therefore we should seek all of
our needs from Him.
Allah has named Himself Al-Mujeeb, which means the One who responds. Just as we
are certain that the Quran is true, we must be certain that Allah, Al-Mujeeb, will
answer our call. We should never think that Allah will not answer, because by
feeling so, we are denying this attribute (siffat) of Allah. Whenever we are feeling
down, we should not hesitate to ask Him over and over again, and to go into sujood
(prostration) and plead because that is the closest that we are to Him. If we realize
this, the doors of mercy have been opened for us, because the Prophet said, For
whoever the door of du`a opened, for him the doors of mercy are opened.
(Tirmidhi).
Your du`a is deposited with Allah, and as was narrated from the Prophet , your
du`a does something. Either Allah will speedily answer your du`a or He will save it
for you until the Hereafter, or He will avert something bad equal to the value of the
du`a (Ahmad). So we should never leave du`a. The Prophet told us, Do not stop
making du`a, because nobody who makes du`a is forsaken. (Hakim)
InshaAllah, you will be answered. The Prophet said, Verily your Lord is Generous
and Shy. If His servant raises his hands to Him (in supplication) He becomes shy to
return them empty. (Ahmad, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi)
Remember: our Lord is not forgetful. Sometimes you might even forget that you
once made du`a for something, but He might give it to you years later.
No answer?
We must always have certainty that Allah answers. But sometimes doubt enters
ones heart: But I asked, I made du`a and I dont see anything? Firstly, just as
we know that Allah is Al-Mujeeb, we must also know He is Al-Hakeem (the Most
Wise).
He may delay answering your prayer for a number of reasons; one is to test your
trust in Him. We all say we believe Allah is the Al-Mujeeb when everything lands at
our feet, but what about when we dont immediately see the fruits of our du`a? I
knew a woman who was telling the story of how her husband did not pray. When
she married him, she didnt know, and as the marriage progressed she discovered
that he was skeptical of religion as well. So she would wake up every night for
qiyam al-layl (the night prayer) and plead with Allah to guide Him. Do you know how

long she prayed for? Two years. And she says it was so unexpected; he came home
from a business trip with a complete change of heart. It turns out that on the plane
he was seated next to a great sheikh who began talking to him. And that is how he
changed.
Another reason is that Allah knows when it is best to answer. Perhaps you are asking
for a job and He could give you a job at this very moment, but He will delay it
because He knows that in a couple of months, a better job will come along. Perhaps
what you are asking for is not good for you, or He will give you something better in
the Hereafter.
Allah also may delay the answer to make us work harder so we are prepared for it. If
we look at Palestine, we may think, Wow, the Muslim Ummah prays so much and
we dont see anything changing. But in truth, although the majority of the Ummah
prays intensely during Ramadan, many do not make du`a with true pleading. It is
almost an afterthought. And if we do (such as when we see the carnage that
happened in Gaza) we do not follow up our words by utilizing the means to change
the situation; we forget (as is happening now). There are some genuine people who
work for change, but they are a minority. So we need to be patient because we need
to know that Allah is training the Ummah. The answer is being delayed so that we
become worthy of this task.
There is a beautiful hadith qudsi which states that Allah sometimes delays the
answer because He loves hearing the sound of His servant (At-Tabari). Many of us
would ask and then when we get what we want we stop going to Allah; but imagine
that when the answer is delayed, Allah loves to hear YOUR voice again as you call
Him. Wow.
Allah does not place a burden on us greater than we can bear. If the answer to your
du`a has been delayed, its because Allah KNOWS you can handle it. He tests those
whom He loves, so keep asking and remember that Allah makes with hardship ease.
And remember, as with tawakkul, we need to exert effort as well.
Four conditions
Ibn Al-Qayyim said he who fulfills the following conditions should know that Allah
will surely answer his du`a:
Have certainty that Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala will answer your du`a. The Prophet
said, Ask Allah with certainty that He will answer your prayers. (Tirmidhi)
Show submissiveness and devotion during your du`a. The Prophet said, Know
that Allah will not accept the supplication from an absent heart. (Tirmidhi)

Be patient and do not hasten for an answer. The Prophet said: The du`a of any
worshipper will continue to be responded to, as long as he is not hasty i.e. as long
as he doesnt lose patience. [Muslim]

Continue to gain a lawful means of living. The Prophet narrated a story about a
man asking Allah, saying O Lord! O Lord! but his food was unlawful, his drink was
unlawful, his clothing was unlawful, and he was nourished unlawfully; so how can he
be answered?! (Muslim)