Iḥsān and doing good in the Qur’ān and the Sabīl library

In the narration of Shaddād ibn Aws below, iḥsān is doing a thing well; in the verses, the edition the app uses renders the word and its kin as doing good. In the ḥadīth of Jibrīl it is the third thing the Prophet ﷺ is asked about, after Islām and īmān and before the Hour. This page sets out how the narrations describe iḥsān, then gathers the verses of the Qur’ān that speak of doing good and of those who do it, and two entries of the Sabīl library. Every verse is shown with Tanzil’s Arabic and its meaning in the edition the app uses; the verses were chosen by their wording in that English meaning (“do good”, “those who do good”, “doers of good”, “goodness”, “kindness”, “Be kind”), with the verses that continue one of them (51:17 to 51:19) and one that says to repel evil with what is good (41:34). Every narration is named by its collection and number at the end. Some verses are shown with the edition’s own notes beneath them; those are that edition’s words, not this page’s, and this page has not checked them. The page gives no ruling of its own; for your own circumstances, ask a scholar.

What iḥsān is, in the ḥadīth of Jibrīl

In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb reports that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him about Islām, then about īmān, then about iḥsān. Of iḥsān the Prophet ﷺ said that it is to worship Allah as though you see Him, and that if you do not see Him, He sees you. At the end the Prophet ﷺ told ʿUmar that the man was Jibrīl, come to teach them their religion. Al-Bukhārī has the same answer about iḥsān in Abū Hurayrah’s narration of the occasion.

The library’s Forty Ḥadīth of an-Nawawī has a card on the ḥadīth of Jibrīl. It is not quoted here, because the library’s own checking has open questions about that title, among them how the card abridges the ḥadīth. The narration the library sets beside the card is in the ḥadīth reader, in Muslim, as number 93 of the dataset’s count.

Iḥsān in everything

Iḥsān is not only for worship. In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Shaddād ibn Aws reports the Prophet ﷺ saying that Allah has prescribed iḥsān in all things, and giving as his examples that killing and slaughtering be done well, and, for slaughter, that the blade be sharpened and the animal given ease. The verses below speak of doing good in spending, anger, justice and towards parents, and of repelling evil with what is good.

Verses that speak of those whom Allah loves

Two of these verses say that Allah loves those who do good. In the first, “do good” follows the commands to spend in the way of Allah and not to throw yourselves into destruction.

The second describes what those it speaks of do: they spend in times of prosperity and adversity, they restrain their anger and they pardon people. The edition’s note on it quotes a saying of the Prophet ﷺ.

Verses that speak of Allah being with them, and of His mercy and guidance

Two of these verses say that Allah is with those who do good. The first speaks of “those who strive in Our cause” and ends by saying that Allah is with those who do good; the second says it of those who fear Him and those who do good.

A third says that the mercy of Allah is close to those who do good, and a fourth calls the Book guidance and mercy for those who do good.

Verses about their reward

Four of these verses speak of the reward of those who do good. One says that for them there will be the best reward and more; the edition’s note on it says what it takes “and more” to mean and cites its source.

A short verse asks whether the reward for goodness is anything but goodness.

Two of these verses say that Allah does not let their reward go to waste. In the first, the speaker is Joseph, answering the question “Are you really Joseph?”

A description of them: their nights and their wealth

One passage describes people who “were indeed doers of good beforehand”, and goes on to say what they used to do: sleep only a little at night, seek forgiveness before dawn, and in their wealth there was a share for the beggar and the destitute. The four verses follow one another.

Some of the library’s du‘ās for seeking forgiveness are gathered on Sayyid al-Istighfār and other du‘ās for seeking forgiveness.

Justice and kindness, and the share of this world

This verse names justice, kindness and giving relatives their dues, and then what Allah forbids.

This verse is addressed to someone as “you”. It says to seek, with what Allah has given, the abode of the Hereafter, without forgetting “your share of this world”, and to do good as Allah has done good to you. It ends by saying that Allah does not like those who spread corruption.

Answering what is bad with what is good

This verse says that good and evil are not equal, and says to repel evil with what is good. It then says what will become of the one with whom there was enmity.

Submitting and doing good

Two of these verses join submitting to Allah with doing good. The first says that such a person will have their reward with their Lord, the second that they have “grasped the firmest handhold”.

Kindness to parents and to those near

Two of these verses speak of kindness to parents. In the first, kindness to parents is joined to the command to worship none but Allah; the second follows the command to worship Allah and associate no partners with Him, and names others to whom kindness is to be shown.

From the library: a du‘ā about worshipping well

The Adhkār of the Prayers sheet in the library has a short du‘ā under the heading “Du‘ā of Mu‘ādh”. In the library’s meaning it asks Allah for help to remember Him, to thank Him and to worship Him well. The library cites it to Abū Dāwūd and an-Nasā’ī with the grade ṣaḥīḥ; its source line says the Prophet ﷺ told Mu‘ādh never to leave it after any prayer. In both books Muʿādh ibn Jabal reports that the Prophet ﷺ took him by the hand, told him that he loved him, and then taught him this du‘ā, in Abū Dāwūd’s wording; an-Nasā’ī’s begins “My Lord” and has “in every prayer”.

From the library: good character

Adab & Akhlāq opens with a card on good character, shown below. Its source line reads “Tirmidhī · ṣaḥīḥ”, followed by the words “The most complete of believers in faith is the best of them in character.” Both the card’s line and its source line rest on narrations in at-Tirmidhī: Abū ad-Dardā’ reports that nothing is heavier on the scale than good character, and Abū Hurayrah reports the saying the source line quotes. At-Tirmidhī calls 1162 and 2002 ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ, and 2003 gharīb by its chain, which later graders call ṣaḥīḥ or ḥasan. The rest of the card is the list of the cards that follow it.

References

Verses of the Qur’ān, by sūrah and verse, shown above: 2:112; 2:195; 3:134; 4:36; 7:56; 10:26; 12:90; 16:90; 16:128; 17:23; 18:30; 28:77; 29:69; 31:3; 31:22; 41:34; 51:16–19; 55:60.

Narrations, by collection and number as sunnah.com numbers them: al-Bukhārī by the numbering of Fatḥ al-Bārī; Muslim by Muḥammad Fuʾād ʿAbd al-Bāqī’s numbers, with the letter sunnah.com adds where it divides one; Abū Dāwūd, an-Nasā’ī and at-Tirmidhī by sunnah.com’s numbering.

• The ḥadīth of Jibrīl, iḥsān as worshipping Allah as though you see Him: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 8a; Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 50.
• Iḥsān prescribed in all things: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 1955a.
• The du‘ā of Muʿādh: Sunan Abī Dāwūd 1522; Sunan an-Nasā’ī 1303.
• Nothing heavier on the scale than good character: Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 2002 (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ) and 2003 (gharīb by its chain).
• The most complete of believers in faith: Jāmiʿ at-Tirmidhī 1162 (ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ).

From the Sabīl library: Adhkār of the Prayers, the entry “Du‘ā of Mu‘ādh”; Adab & Akhlāq, its opening card; the Forty Ḥadīth of an-Nawawī, linked, not quoted.

Where to go next

• The Qur’ān has every verse above in its sūrah, with its meanings.
• Adab & Akhlāq has the cards on manners, on the tongue and on rights owed, and can be printed as cards.
• The Forty Ḥadīth of an-Nawawī is the single entry described above.
• Sayyid al-Istighfār and other du‘ās for seeking forgiveness gathers several of the library’s du‘ās for seeking forgiveness.
• Īmān and belief in the Qur’ān and the Sabīl library is the companion page on īmān.
• Islām and submission in the Qur’ān and the Sabīl library is the companion page on Islām.