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understood them, but did not act on the strength of them, they
would not be of use of him.34
(c) IHSAN
(1) Excellence / Virtue (Ihsan) as such
The word ‘Ihsan’ comes from the Arabic tri-letter root H-S-N which
means beauty, and since inner beauty is virtue we can translate
‘Ihsan’ as either ‘virtue’ or ‘excellence’. The ‘muhsinin’—those who
have ‘Ihsan’ —are one of eight categories35 of virtuous people in
the Qur’an whom God loves, and indeed, of these eight categories
they are the ones mentioned the most frequently as being loved by
God.36 Additionally, of the eight categories, it is one of only three
categories (the other two being: the patient [al-sabirun] and those
who fear God [al-muttaqun]) whom God is mentioned as being
‘with’. It is also the only category whom God is mentioned as being
‘indeed with’ (‘la-ma‘ ’). God says:
But as for those who struggle for Our sake, We shall assuredly
guide them in Our ways, and truly God is indeed with
the virtuous. (Al-‘Ankabut, 29:69)
Furthermore, the muhsinin —and only muhsinin —are described
in the Holy Qur’an as being ‘near to God’s mercy’. God says:
And work not corruption in the land, after it has been set
right, and call upon Him in fear, and in hope—surely the
mercy of God is near to the virtuous. (Al-A‘raf, 7:56)
All this is to say then that Ihsan can be understood as not
34 Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali, Letter to a Disciple, trans. Tobias Mayer, Islamic Texts Society,
Cambridge, 2005, p.8.
35 See: Ghazi bin Muhammad, Love in the Holy Qur’an, (Kazi Books, usa, 2011) Chapter
7: God’s Love for Humanity.
36 See: Al-Baqarah, 2:195; Aal ‘Imran, 3:134; Aal ‘Imran, 3:148; Al-Ma’idah, 5:13, and
Al-Ma’idah, 5:93.
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