Generosity - Ihsaan

In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

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All praise is for Allah, the Most High, the Lord of the Worlds. And May Peace be upon His Prophets and His Angels. May Allah's blessings be upon our Holy Prophet, Muhammad (sallallaho 'alaihi wasallam).

"Generosity - Ihsaan"

"And do not make mischief in the earth after its reformation, and call on Him fearing and hoping;
surely the mercy of Allah is nigh to the Muhsineen ( those who do good (to others))." [Al-Quran 7:56]

Abu Dharr (RA) reported that Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "He has been successful whose heart Allah has made sincere towards faith, whose heart He has made free from unbelief, his tongue truthful, his soul calm, his nature straight, whose ear He has made attentive and his eye observant. The ear is a funnel and the eye is a repository for what the heart learns. He is successful whose heart is made retentive." [al Tirmidhi - 5200]

Assalamu 'alalikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh,

Ihsaan is to be generous with others, doing favours secretly or openly, without asking for any compensation for the generosity. Being generous is a marvelous characteristic of a human being, which is free from selfishness, greediness and arrogance. A generous person (Muhsin), not only respects the rights of others but also gives more from his own generousity, purely for the sake of Allah. For such a person who spends his/her wealth, efforts, time etc for the benefits of Allah's Creatures, is there anyone who can reward him/her better than Allah himself?

Sayyidina Isa (Jesus, May Allah's blessings be upon him) is quoted in the Qur'an as saying:

ÞÇá Çäí ÚÈÏÇááå ÇÊÇäí ÇáßÊÇÈ æÌÚáäí äÈíÇ ¤ æÌÚáäí ãÈÇÑßÇ Çíä ãÇßäÊ æÇæÕÇäí ÈÇáÕáÇÉ æÇáÒßÇÉ ãÇÏãÊ ÍíÇ

"He (Iesa (Jesus)) said: Verily! I am a slave of Allah, He has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet;" ¤ "And He has made me blessed wheresoever I be, and has enjoined on me Salat (prayer), and Zakat, as long as I live." Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ãÑíã (Maryam) - 19:30-31]

The saying, "And He has made me blessed wheresoever I be...", reminds us about the generosity of the Prophets, as we know the simplicity of the Prophet Jesus and Muhammad (peace be upon them), they both had a simple life, but filled with generousity and compassion for those who were around them and this is the path of any Muhsin (or Muslim). Allah has commanded us to be generous with those who are around us (spreading nice fragrance... ), starting from those who are nearest to us (such as Our parents, children, relatives, neighbours, travellers, etc), as Ar-Rahmaan (the Most Compassionate) has said:

æÇÚÈÏæÇ Çááå æáÇÊÔÑßæÇ Èå ÔíÆÇ æÈÇáæÇáÏíä ÇÍÓÇäÇ æÈÐí ÇáÞÑÈì æÇáíÊÇãì æÇáãÓÇßíä æÇáÌÇÑ Ðí ÇáÞÑÈì æÇáÌÇÑ ÇáÌäÈ æÇáÕÇÍÈ ÈÇáÌäÈ æÇÈä ÇáÓÈíá æãÇãáßÊ ÇíãÇäßã Çä Çááå áÇíÍÈ ãä ßÇä ãÎÊÇáÇ ÝÎæÑÇ

• And serve Allah. Ascribe no thing as partner unto Him. (Show) kindness unto parents, and unto near kindred, and orphans, and the needy, and unto the neighbour who is of kin (unto you) and the neighbour who is not of kin, and the fellow-traveller and the wayfarer and (the slaves) whom your right hands possess. Lo! Allah loveth not such as are proud and boastful, Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáäÓÇÁ (Nisaa) - 4:36]

æÓÇÑÚæÇ Çáì ãÛÝÑÉ ãä ÑÈßã æÌäÉ ÚÑÖåÇ ÇáÓãÇæÇÊ æÇáÇÑÖ ÇÚÏÊ ááãÊÞíä ¤ ÇáÐíä íäÝÞæä Ýí ÇáÓÑÇÁ æÇáÖÑÇÁ æÇáßÇÙãíä ÇáÛíÙ æÇáÚÇÝíä Úä ÇáäÇÓ æÇááå íÍÈ ÇáãÍÓäíä

• And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord; and a Garden, the extensiveness of which is (as) the heavens and the earth, it is prepared for those who guard (against evil). ¤ Those who spend (benevolently) in ease as well as in straitness, and those who restrain (their) anger and pardon men; and Allah loves the Muhsineen (doers of good (to others)). Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ Âá ÚãÑÇä (Aal-e-Imran) - 3:133-134]

æÇäÝÞæÇ Ýí ÓÈíá Çááå æáÇÊáÞæÇ ÈÇíÏíßã Çáì ÇáÊåáßÉ æÇÍÓäæÇ Çä Çááå íÍÈ ÇáãÍÓäíä

• And spend in the way of Allah and cast not yourselves to perdition with your own hands, and do good (to others); surely Allah loves the Muhsineen (doers of good). Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáÈÞÑÉ (Baqarah) - 2:195]

Generosity is not limited to just paying some money, but rather there are many ways to be kind such as speaking kindly, smiling, forgiving, encouraging goodness, protecting from evil, strengthening in sadness, helping elders etc. In fact, Islam teaches us to be kind even with the animals.

Abu Hurayrah (radhi Allahu 'anhu) narrated:

The Prophet said, "A man felt very thirsty while he was on the way, there he came across a well. He went down the well, quenched his thirst and came out. Meanwhile he saw a dog panting and licking mud because of excessive thirst. He said to himself, "This dog is suffering from thirst as I did." So, he went down the well again and filled his shoe with water and watered it. Allah thanked him for that deed and forgave him. The people said, "O Allah's Apostle! Is there a reward for us in serving the animals?" He replied: "Yes, there is a reward for serving any animate (living being)." [Sahih Bukhari - 003_043_646]

Abu Hurayrah (radhi Allahu 'anhu) narrated:

Allah's Apostle said, "Anybody who believes in Allah and the Last Day should not harm his neighbor, and anybody who believes in Allah and the Last Day should entertain his guest generously and anybody who believes in Allah and the Last Day should talk what is good or keep quiet. [Sahih Bukhari - 008_073_047]

Abu Hurayrah (radhi Allahu 'anhu) narrated:

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_ him) said: The believer is simple and generous, but the profligate is deceitful and ignoble.[Abu Dawud - 041_4772]

Abu Hurayrah (radhi Allahu 'anhu) narrated:

Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "The generous man is near Allah, near Paradise, near men and far from Hell, but the miserly man is far from Allah, far from Paradise, far from men and near Hell. Indeed, an ignorant man who is generous is dearer to Allah than a worshipper who is miserly." [Tirmidhi - 1869]

Ibn Abbas (radhi Allahu 'anhu) narrated:

Allah's Apostle was the most generous of all the people, and he used to reach the peak in generosity in the month of Ramadan when Gabriel met him. Gabriel used to meet him every night of Ramadan to teach him the Qur'an. Allah's Apostle was the most generous person, even more generous than the strong uncontrollable wind (in readiness and haste to do charitable deeds). [Sahih Bukhari - 001_001_005]

Once again, for such a person who spends his/her wealth, efforts, time etc for the benefits of Allah's Creatures, is there anyone who can reward him/her better than Allah himself?

There is atleast one big reward, which will please every seeker of wisdom, insha' Allah. Allah the Most High, has said in at least two places that knowledge and wisdom is granted to such Muhsineen (generous).

æáãÇ ÈáÛ ÇÔÏå ÇÊíäÇå ÍßãÇ æÚáãÇ æßÐáß äÌÒí ÇáãÍÓäíä

• And when he (Yusuf/Joseph) had attained his maturity, We gave him wisdom and knowledge: and thus do We reward the Muhsineen. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ íæÓÝ (Yusuf) - 12:22]

æáãÇ ÈáÛ ÇÔÏå æÇÓÊæì ÇÊíäÇå ÍßãÇ æÚáãÇ æßÐáß äÌÒí ÇáãÍÓäíä

• And when he (Musa/Moses) attained his maturity and became full grown, We granted him wisdom and knowledge; and thus do We reward Muhsineen. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáÞÕÕ (Qusas) - 28:14]

íÄÊí ÇáÍßãÉ ãä íÔÇÁ æãä íÄÊ ÇáÍßãÉ ÝÞÏ ÇæÊí ÎíÑÇ ßËíÑÇ æãÇíÐßÑ ÇáÇ ÇæáæÇ ÇáÇáÈÇÈ

• He grants wisdom to whom He pleases; and whoever is granted wisdom is indeed given a great wealth, yet none except people of understanding learn a lesson from it. Al-Quran [ ÓæÑÉ ÇáÈÞÑÉ (Baqarah) - 2:269]

Therefore, let us try to be helpful, if we cannot be beneficial then we should at least try not be harmful.

"Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of Honor, He is free from what they ascribe to Him!
Peace be on the Messengers, and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds." Al-Quran [37:180-182]

wa Assalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatu Allah,

Abdullah