Absolute Justice, Kindness and Kinship — Page 208
Justice (‘ Adl ), Benevolence ( Ihsan ) & Kinship ( Ita’i Dhil-Qurba ) in Worship 203 work', or, 'Zaid helped me and that is why I achieved my purpose', or, 'Bakr’s timely warning saved me from destruction'. At this stage man sees only One Being, only One Creator, only One Benefactor, only One Hand. He clearly sees God’s benevolence and his vision is not blurred by even the slightest mist of reasons and causes. His vision becomes so clear that at the time of worship the benefactor seems to manifest Himself to the worshipper and does not remain hidden to him. In the Quran and in the Hadith this type of worship has been termed as I h s a n. ' 22 This is how one progresses from the stage of justice to the stage of benevolence. When we become engrossed in the remembrance of Allah, His benevolence infiltrates every fibre of our life with His love. Thus an appreciation of His benevolence does not remain a mere interesting intellectual exercise, but becomes a natural part of one’s emotional complex. Consequently, one begins to love God with a burning passion. Any person who performs his worship in the manner suggested here would notice that as a result it becomes impossible for him to return to his earlier state of oblivion and not to feel that yearning for Him constantly without cessation. The Promised Messiah as continues to build this theme as follows: 'After this comes another stage, which is called I t a ’i Dhil-Qurb a. This means that when man witnesses the favours of God without interruption and worships Him as One who is always present and bestows His favours directly upon him, as a result of this