his most illustrious disciples are visited by what appears to be a stranger who asks about islam (submission), iman (faith), and ihsan (spiritual excellence). Sitting knee to knee with this stranger, the Prophet answers his questions, and the companions are astonished that having questioned him, the man had the nerve to confirm his answers by saying, “you have spoken truth.” When the stranger left, the Prophet revealed to his companions that the visitor was none other than the Angel Gabriel himself, transmitter of the Qur’an. The report contains a concise summary of the basics of practice (islam) and belief (iman), and it is often used to structure teaching on the contents of the religion. Sufis often focus on the Prophet’s definition of ihsan: “it is to worship God as though you see Him, for if you do not see Him, know that He sees you.” Here we have reproduced only the section on Ihsan, since the sections on Iman are similar to the contents of the Kitab usul al-din, while the sections on Islam enter into minute details about daily worshipping activities.
Ihsan: The science of tasawwuf (Sufism)
Every responsible person must learn enough of this science to enable him to acquire praiseworthy qualities and to keep him from blameworthy qualities.
The purification of the heart from the whisperings of Shaytan
This is achieved by four things: The first is to seek refuge with God from shaytan, and to reject the thought which occurs. The second is to remember God with the heart and the tongue. The third is to reflect on the proofs of the people of the sunna. These are not mentioned by the philosophers or the Mu‘tazalis. The fourth is to question one who knows the sunna.
The purification of the heart from conceit (‘ujb)
Conceit is one of the blameworthy qualities which it is forbidden to have. God Most High said, “Do not praise yourselves. He has more knowledge of the one who guards himself out of fear” (Q 53:32).
Much harm arises out of conceit. Conceit leads to pride, forgetting wrong actions, presumption about acts of worship (‘ibada), forgetting the blessing of God, self-deception, feeling safe from the anger of God, believing that you have a station with God, and self-justification by action, concept, and knowledge. These and things like them are part of the harm which results from conceit.
As far as its reality is concerned, you should know that without a doubt, conceit is due to an attribute of perfection. A man may have one of two states in his self-perfection of knowledge and ‘ibada.
One state is that he is fearful that what he has obtained will vanish, be uprooted, and stripped away from him. This person is not conceited. The other state is that he is not fearful that it will vanish. He is happy about it because it is a blessing from God, not because it is related to himself. He also is not conceited. There is, however, a third state which is conceit. This is that he does not fear for what he has. He is happy with it, sure of it. His joy in it is because it is a perfection and a blessing, not because it is a gift from God Most High. His joy in it is because it is his attribute and it is attributed to him. His joy is not because it is related to God since it comes from Him. Conceit is presumption about blessing, relying on it, and forgetting its relationship to the Giver of blessing. This makes clear the reality of conceit.
As far as its cure is concerned, know that the cure for every fault is its opposite. The fault of conceit lies in pure ignorance. Its cure is recognition and knowledge which is in direct opposition to that ignorance. A man’s conceit is in two categories: one category is in whatever he can exercise his own choice in—like the prayer, fasting, zakat, hajj, sadaqa, raiding, and improving his character. Conceit in this category is more prevalent. There is also a category in which he has no choice—like beauty, power, and lineage.
Sometimes he is conceited in both of these categories because he possesses these things and is their place of manifestation. This is pure ignorance because the place is subservient and cannot be part of bringing-into-existence. How then can he be conceited about something which is not his? On the other hand, he may be conceited because the ‘ibada has been obtained by his own power which is in-time. This is also pure ignorance. He must then consider his power and all the causes by which he has it. He acts as if it belonged to him. However, it is all God’s blessing to him and he has no inherent right to it. He ought to be delighted about the generosity of God Most High since He showered Him with what he did not deserve and bestowed it on him, preferring him above others without any prior reason or any device on his part. The truth is that you, your movements, and all of your attributes are part of God’s creation and invention. You did not act when you acted, and you did not pray when you prayed, and “you did not throw when you threw. Allah threw” (Q 17:82). Therefore, the worshipper’s conceit about his ‘ibada has no meaning. It is the same with the beautiful person’s conceit about his beauty, and the conceit of the wealthy man about his riches and liberality. You suppose that the action is achieved by your own power, but where does your power come from? Action is only possible by your existence and by the existence of your knowledge, will, power, and the rest of the causes of your actions. All that is from God, not from you because He is the One who created power and then gave power to the will, set causes in motion, distributed obstacles, and facilitated action. One of the marvels is that you can be conceited about yourself, and yet you do not wonder at the generosity of God. You should be constantly concerned about yourself and your opinion because He is not impressed by opinion unless there is evidence for it, and it is conclusively contained in the Book of God or in the sunna of God’s Messenger, or by an intellectual proof. This makes clear the cure of conceit.
The purification of the heart from pride (kibr)
Pride is one of the blameworthy qualities and it is forbidden to have it. God Most High said, “I will turn away from My signs those who are arrogant in the earth without right” (Q 7:146).
As far as its reality is concerned, you should know that pride is divided into inward and outward pride. Inward pride is a quality within the self, and outward pride is action which appears through the limbs. The name pride (kibr) is more appropriate for the inward quality. As for action, it is the result of that quality, and you must know that the quality of pride demands action. When it appears on the limbs, it is called arrogance (takabbur), and when it does not manifest itself, it is called pride (kibr). Its root is the quality in the self which is satisfaction and confidence at seeing the self above anyone towards whom he is overbearing. Mere self-exaltation does not make someone arrogant. He might well exalt himself while seeing that another person is greater than him or his equal. In this case, he is not overbearing toward him. It is not enough merely to disdain others. In spite of his disdain, a person might see himself as more despicable and therefore, he would not be considered arrogant. If someone sees the other as his equal, he is not considered arrogant. He must see that he has a rank and someone else has a rank, and then see his rank as above the other’s rank. When he exalts his own value in relationship to someone else, he despises the one below him and puts himself above the other’s company and confidence. If it is very extreme, he may spurn the other’s service and not consider him worthy to stand in his presence. If it is less extreme, he may reject his basic equality, and put himself above this other in assemblies, wait for him to begin the greeting, think that it is unlikely that he will be able to fulfil his demands and be amazed at him. If he objects, the proud man scorns to answer him. If he warns him, he refuses to accept it. If he answers him back, he is angry. When the proud man teaches, he is not courteous to his students. He looks down upon them and rebuffs them. He is very condescending toward them and exploits them. He looks at the common people as if he were looking at asses. He thinks that they are ignorant and despicable.
There are many actions which come from the quality of pride. They are too many to be numbered. This is the reality of pride.
The harm it does is immense. The “‘ulama’”
