Meaning of Kindness – Every day, people are encouraged to be good. This can be realized by doing good to fellow living beings. For example by helping relatives or friends who are in trouble, taking care of the environment, not damaging nature, not hunting animals wildly, and others.
Islam upholds the values of tolerance, helping each other, and other good attitudes. From those good things, kindness is created. Simply put, ihsan is a good deed done by someone.
Those good deeds can refer to obedience in worship, relationships as fellow human beings, and good things done to fellow living beings on earth. As a human being endowed with reason by God, he should do good things that do not harm anyone, including plants, animals, and nature.
For that, Reader need to understand kindness from the understanding to the example so that it can be a motivator or an inspiration to do good. Here is an explanation of courtesy that has been compiled from various sites on the internet.
Meaning of Courtesy
The word ihsan is the opposite of the word al isaa-ah which means bad deeds. Ihsan is a person’s behavior in order to do good deeds and prevent oneself from committing sins. A person who acts ihsan will give goodness to other servants of God in the form of wealth, intelligence, glory, or energy.
Ihsan itself comes from the word hasuna which means good or good. In the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), ihsan means good; donations and so on that are not required. Ihsan itself cannot be separated from faith and Islam. Its unity becomes a unity as the perfection of a person’s Islam.
Translating from the Islam.nu.or.id page, Ibnu Katsir in his work of interpretation said that ihsan includes the goodness of something in substance, both related to creed, worship, and others such as the goodness of a Muslim towards others.
Meanwhile, Sayyid Thanthawi said, the object of the word ‘kindness’ in Surat An-Nahl verse 90 is not mentioned to give the general effect of the target and form of the act of kindness itself. Good deeds or courtesy are performed in the form of actions and speech and are directed to humans, animals, and other creations.
Sayyid Thanthawi said, the object of the word ‘kindness’ in Surat An-Nahl verse 90 is not mentioned to give the general effect of the target and form of the act of kindness itself. Good deeds or courtesy are performed in the form of actions and speech and are directed to humans, animals, and other creations.
Al-Munawi explains about the important place of kindness as a manifestation of faith. This is because the religion of Islam is based on the pillars of kindness and generosity. If both are not practiced then one’s Islam will not be of good value.
The link between kindness and faith was brought up again by the Prophet in the narration of Ibnu Majah and At-Tabarani, “The most important believers (the highest degree, said Al-Munawi) are those with the best morals.”
Allah commands His people to behave according to ihsan as mentioned in surah Al Baqarah verse 83 as follows.
وَاِذْ اَخَذْنَا مِيْثَاقَ بَنِيْٓ اِسْرَاۤءِيْلَ لَا تَعْبُدُوْنَ اِلَّا اللّٰهَ وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ اِحْسَانًا وَّذِى الْقُرْبٰى وَالْيَتٰمٰى وَالْمَسٰكِيْنِ وَقُوْلُوْا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْنًا وَّاَقِيْمُوا الصَّلٰوةَ وَاٰتُوا الزَّكٰوةَۗ ثُمَّ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ اِلَّا قَلِيْلًا مِّنْكُمْ وَاَنْتُمْ مُّعْرِضُوْنَ
Meaning, “And (remember) when We took a promise from the Children of Israel, “Do not worship other than Allah, and do good to parents, relatives, orphans, and the poor. And speak good words to people, perform salat and pay zakat.” But then you turned away (denied), except for a small part of you, and you (still became) the opposition.”
Not only that, the advice to do ihsan is also recorded in the word of God in surah An Nahl verse 90 which has the following meaning.
Meaning, “Indeed, Allah commands (you) to act justly and to do good…”
In another verse, Allah says in Surah Al Baqarah verse 195 which has the following meaning.
“And do good (to others) as God has done good to you…”
Courtesy Features
A person who practices ihsan can be seen from his behavior. Here are some courtesy features that have been summarized from Plus.kapanlagi.com and in the book “Mutiara Qudsi” by Ahmad Abduh Iwadh as follows.
- Issuing infak in easy or difficult conditions
- Hold back his anger when they can
- Forgive the wrongdoers of those who oppress them
- Do the night prayer
- People who do kindness will ask for forgiveness at sahur.
- Always try to obey the commands of Allah SWT (prayer, fasting, zakat, almsgiving, giving, etc.) and stay away from His prohibitions.
- Be trustworthy and honest.
- Always strive to maintain worship to Allah SWT and always thirst for worship.
- Can create and maintain peace and harmony in society.
- Strive to forgive others when wronged and guard against anger.
Forms of Acts of Kindness
Actions that reflect courtesy are not present in a singular form. It can take many forms. Here are some forms of kindness that are around us.
1. Be patient
Patience is the act of holding back from something that is not liked with full contentment and submission. As a Muslim, refraining from something he doesn’t like. For example, refraining from getting angry when someone does something bad to us.
Not only that in worship and obedience to God, patience is also needed. As a Muslim, we are obligated to worship and refrain from disobeying God. Although, we are attracted to immoral things.
Patience and not feeling anxious is also part of morals that is obtained with practice and seriousness. Reader who embrace Islam can practice patience by remembering God’s commands and the promised rewards.
As in His word in Surah Ali Imran verse 200 which has the following meaning.
“O you who believe, be patient and strengthen your patience and stay ready (at the border of your country) and fear God, so that you will be successful.”
Also in surah Al-Baqarah verse 45 which means the following.
“And ask for help (to God) with patience and prayer…”
2. Performing Salat
Salat in the Indonesian Language Dictionary (KBBI), is the second pillar of Islam, in the form of worship to Allah Swt., must be performed by every mukalaf Muslim, with certain conditions, pillars, and readings, starting with takbir and ending with salam; prayer to God.
Salat can also be interpreted as an orderly worship of several words and actions that begin with takbir, end with salam, and are equipped with various conditions that have been determined. Allah says in Surah Al Ankabut verse 45 which means the following.
“And establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prevents from (deeds) vile and evil.”
3. Paying Zakat
As Muslims, you must pay zakat if you have met the conditions. Giving zakat will not make us poor, it can actually clean our wealth. It should be remembered that in the sustenance we have there is sustenance of other people.
Zakat is one of the fifth pillars of Islam. It is fardu ‘ain if the conditions have been met. In surah An Nisa verse 77 it was commanded about zakat. The meaning of the verse is “Establish prayer and pay zakat on your wealth…”
The warning of zakat is also listed in surah At Taubah verse 103 which means, “Take zakat from some of their property, with that zakat you cleanse and purify them…”
4. Belief in the Last Day
The end of human life will come with an uncertain time. As a Muslim, you must believe that life in this world is only temporary and has an end.
Then, will come the second life, the moments leading to the afterlife. God will resurrect all living creatures with one breath. They will gather at the Mahsyar field to be weighed or smoked.
God will give the reward of heaven to those who do good. Meanwhile, those who do bad things on earth will be rewarded with the punishment of hell. This is stated in surah Ar Rahman verse 26-27 which has the following meaning.
“Everything on earth will perish, but the face of your Lord who has patience and glory will remain forever.”
Also recorded in surah Al Anbiya verses 34-35 which has the following meaning.
“And We did not make eternal life for a human being before you (Muhammad); then if you die, will they remain? Everyone who lives will feel death. We will test you with bad and good as a test. And you will be returned only to us.”
5. Jihad
Jihad becomes fardhu kifayah to fight the infidels and those who fight the Muslims. However, this jihad cannot be used as a basis for killing other people of different beliefs and religions.
In surah At Taubah verse 122 it was explained about jihad. The meaning of the verse is as follows.
“It should not be for the believers to all go (to the battlefield). Why not go from each group among them a few people to deepen their knowledge of religion and to warn his people when they have returned to him, so that they can take care of themselves.”
6. Infact
According to Juwaibir which was narrated from adh-Dhahhak, “infaq is charity done to draw closer to God according to the ability and facilities they have, until the verse about the obligations of charity was revealed, namely the seven verses in Surat At-Taubah which explain about charity , and these are the verses menasakh (abolish) the existing law and establish a new law.”
Meanwhile, in the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), infak is defined as the giving (donation) of property and the like (apart from obligatory zakat) for good; charity; alimony Infak can be created in various forms.
Income can be in the form of services or material. Services are usually given by giving energy or expertise to help others. Meanwhile, material by giving material possessions, such as money, gold, cars, bicycles, etc. to others who need help.
Courtesy Function
Courtesy is not without reason. At least, it is a reason for people to continue doing good. Here is the function of courtesy for humans.
- The driver, that Ihsan towards Allah SWT, motivates people to respect their lives, worship and do righteous deeds to the extent of increasing a person’s faith and piety.
- The distributor, namely that Ihsan towards Allah SWT, which humans already have in order to develop optimally in their daily life activities by using the Islamic religious guidance to the extent that they are aware of Allah SWT.
- Control, by using Ihsan, people can control their actions when doing something forbidden by Allah SWT.
- Adaptation, man must be aware of himself as a creature created by Allah SWT who has no energy and no strength compared to Allah who is the creator and the almighty.
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