Understanding Ihsan
As servants of God who want good both in this world and the hereafter, we must know ourselves and this religion as best we can. As we know, in Islam there are three levels of a servant, namely: Islam, faith, and compassion. The existence of our Islam can be proven by doing bodily practices such as shahadah, prayer, fasting, zakat, and hajj. While the form of faith is the practice of the heart ( bathiniyyah ), which is to believe in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, the last day, and the destiny that has been set by Him.
As for the form of Ihsan, it can be manifested in all forms of practice, both bodily and spiritual, both obligatory and sunnah, which are dedicated only to Allah Ta'ala by believing that Allah Ta'ala oversees every word, behavior, deed and all our movements in the world. anywhere and anytime.
Ihsan is a term that describes the highest degree of a Muslim servant and believer. To reach the degree of ihsan, we must understand the nature of ihsan and understand how important it is for our efforts to reach this degree.
In a popular hadith known as the hadith of Gabriel, the Prophet sallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam explained the meaning of compassion as follows,
ْنْ تَعْبُدَ اللهَ كَأَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ فَإِنْ لَمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاكَ
“Let You worship God as if You see Him. Even if you do not see Him, indeed He sees you " (Narrated by Muslim no. 8 from Umar bin Al Khattab Radhiyallahu 'anhu ).
In the Book of Bahjatu Qulubil Abraar (pp. 168-169), Sheikh 'Abdurrahman as Sa'di Rahimahullah divides the meaning of Ihsan into two kinds, namely Ihsan in worshiping Allah Ta'ala and Ihsan in dealing with the creatures of Allah Ta'ala . However, in this article the author specializes to discuss matters related to Ihsan in the sense of worship to Allah Ta'ala only. Sheikh As-Sa'di then continued the explanation of Ihsan to Allah Ta'ala , that is, by carrying out Allah's commands as if seeing Him or feeling watched by Him.
How to worship with ihsan
Of course, in general we understand what it means to "worship Allah and believe that Allah is watching over our worship". But, what about the meaning of 'كَأَنَّكَ اهُ' (as if You saw Him)?
It was narrated from Abdullah Ibn Umar Radiallahu 'anhu that the Messenger of Allah sallallaahu' alaihi wasallam advised a companion named Ibn Umar Faidah Radiallahu 'anhu by saying,
Worship God as if you were seeing Him and be in the world as if you were a stranger or a wayfarer
"Worship Allah as if you see Allah and be in the world as if you were a foreigner or a traveler" (HR. Ahmad no. 6156).
In another hadith, the Prophet sallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam said,
Worship God as if you see Him, and if you do not see Him, He sees you, and prepare yourself among the dead, and beware of the supplication of the oppressed, for it will be answered.
“Worship Allah as if you see Allah, if you do not see Him then indeed He sees you. And think that it is as if you are about to die. Stay away and beware of the prayers of the oppressed. And whoever of you is able to perform the Subuh and Isha prayers in congregation even if he crawls to come to it, he should do it ” (Narrated by Abu Dawud, endorsed by Al-Albani in Kitab As-Silsilah As-Shahihah no. 1474).
The Prophet sallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam explained about how we should present the feeling that it is as if we are on the verge of death -and indeed we are at that point right now-. So with it, we will then offer our best worship to Allah, starting from his tuma'ninah to his solemnity.
Worship as if seeing God also contains the meaning that worship should be preceded by learning the science of worship. The subject of knowledge is ma'rifatullah (knowing Allah). The deeper we learn the knowledge of God, the deeper our level of knowledge of God. Knowing Allah, of course, by studying the science of monotheism, starting from His rububiyyah , His uluhiyyah , and His asthma 'was -shifat .
That is the meaning of "worship as if you see Allah". Therefore, how important it is to have knowledge before doing charity. In the end, deepening knowledge about ma'rifatullah will bring us closer to the degree of Ihsan which is the highest level of a servant.
The fruit of ihsan's personality
We already know that knowing God more deeply will make it easier for us to reach the degree of Ihsan. If we have reached a point where everything we do we realize that Allah is always watching, then God willing , we will then become servants who get blessings in every word and behavior, both in the context of hablun minallah and hablun minannaas .
Being a servant of Allah Ta'ala who gets blessings is called muhsin, that is, people who have reached the level of Ihsan and will get the best gifts and rewards in heaven. Allah Ta'ala says,
لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا الْحُسْنَى وَزِيَادَةٌ ۖ
" For those who do good, there is the best reward (heaven) and more. (Surah Yunus: 26).
Ibn Kathir Rahimahullah in his Tafsir Al-Qur'an Al-'Azhim explains that the meaning of al-husna is heaven. While the purpose of ziyadatun is the greatest blessing in the form of being able to see the face of Allah Ta'ala on the Day of Resurrection.
Shuhaib bin Sinan Radhiyallahu 'anhu , Rasulullah Shallallahu 'alaihi wasallam bersabda,
Altarital - بددون مكماة نازهن الحأتة الملماء لخوح محمد الشدبك سَلَمَةَ بِهَذَا الْإِسْنَادِ وَزَادَ ثُمَّ تَلَا هَذِهِ الْآيَةَ لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا الْحُسْنَى وَزِيَادَةٌ
"If the dwellers of heaven have entered heaven, Allah Ta'ala says, 'Do you (O dwellers of heaven) want something in addition (from the pleasures of heaven)?' So they said, 'Have you not made our faces white? Did You not admit us to Paradise and save us from (the punishment of) Hell? ' So (at that time) Allah opened the hijab (which covered His glorious face), and the dwellers of paradise never get a (pleasure) that they prefer than seeing (the face) of Allah 'azza wa jalla. Then Rasulullah Shallallahu 'alaihi wasallam recited the verse above (for those who do good, there is the best reward (heaven) and more) " (Narrated by Muslim no. 181).
So what should we wait for? Let's immediately be determined and try our best to reach the degree of Ihsan. Knowing more about ma'rifatullah so that in worship we can present God as if we see Him. Likewise, so that we believe with haqqul yaqin and always realize that Allah sees and oversees whatever we do wherever and whenever.
Wallahua'lam bi ashawab.
Sumber: muslim.or.id
