Malfuzat – Volume X — Page 531
17 May 1908 531 face, the rattle and glitter of drawn swords in a battlefield, the risk of losing one’s life—to still accept the will of Allah and care for nothing else—this is the summary of Islamic teachings. Three Levels of Fulfilling Obligations to Fellow Beings The second part relates to the obligations towards the creation of God and fellow human beings. In this matter, the teaching of the Holy Quran is as follows: 1 َّنِا َهّٰللا ُرُمْاَي ِلْدَعْلاِب َو ِناَسْحِاْلا َو ِئٓاَتْيِا يِذ ىٰبْرُقْلا َّنِا َهّٰللا ُرُمْاَي ِلْدَعْلاِب َو ِناَسْحِاْلا َو ِئٓاَتْيِا يِذ ىٰبْرُقْلا First, God says do adl [justice]. Then, going even further, it is said that God Almighty has also enjoined upon you to do ihsan [benevolence]; meaning that, you should not just do good to one who has done good to you, rather you should do good out of benevolence, even to someone who has no right to it. However, there is a deficiency even in ihsan : a subtle and imper- ceptible link remains with the beneficiary and if the beneficiary does something that is unpleasant to the benefactor or involves his disobedience, the benefactor might get offended and call him ungrateful or disloyal etc. Even if the benefactor tries to suppress it, a flaw yet remains in a subtle and concealed way that does become manifest sooner or later. Therefore, in order to rectify this flaw and deficiency, Allah the Exalted has enjoined that you should advance even further than ihsan and, making progress, carry out such good- ness as is dyed in the hues of ِئٓاَتْيِا يِذ ىٰبْرُقْلا ِئٓاَتْيِا يِذ ىٰبْرُقْلا [‘doing good to others as if they were your kith and kin’]; meaning, like a mother acts 1. Verily, Allah requires you to abide by justice, and to treat with grace, and give like the giving of kin to kin ( S u rah an-Na h l, 16:91). [Publisher]