The pillar of lhsān is to worship Allāh as if you see Him; although you don’t see Him, know that He certainly sees you.

• lhsān is the highest and the loftiest level in lslām. The religion is comprised of three levels: The highest level is lhsān, then lmān and then lslām. 

All three levels are mentioned in the famous Prophetic narration of Jibrīl.

• lhsān is divided into two levels:

1. Worship of Mushāhadah: “As if one sees Him” – This is worship out of love, desiring, and yearning for that which is with Allāh, while fearing Him at the same time. 

For example: the worship of the Prophets and Messengers. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassalam said: “Should I not be a thankful slave!” 

So It is possible for other than them to reach this level as well, but not as perfectly like the level of Allāhs messenger sallallahu alayhi wassalam

2. Worship of Murāqabah: “The one who knows that he is being observed” – It is a worship out of fear and fleeing to Allāh. A Muslim does not go outside of this circle. 

Allāh says,

إنَّ ٱللََّّهَ مَعَ ٱلذِينَ ٱتَّـقَوا۟ وَّٱلذِينَ هُم مُُّّحْسِنونَ

“Truly, Allāh is with those who fear Him [keep their duty unto Him], and those who are Muhsinun [good-doers].” Sūrah An-Nahl (16): 128.

This means:

• We should strive to perform every act we do with lhsān, in worship to Allāh, in interactions with people, when calling others to Allāh, etc. Anyone can be a muslim and enter Islam, but how he strengthens his imaan solidifies the understanding of foundations/creed and its branches and reaches the level of utmost excellence is what makes him distinct in his worship towards Allāh. The people of bidaah, the heretics and mushrikoon call themseleves muslims too, the rafidhi call themselves muslims too, the ikhwaanis sufis maturidis shias jahmiyah, qadiyaani ahmadis tableeghis and so many more call themselves Muslim. 

A muslim just submits his will to Allah, but does he truly do that ? You will see plenty people Muslims by name and not by actions. You cant be a true muslim unless you understand and reflect upon your foundations and submit your will to Allah over that matter. 

How sound is our aqeedah is based on who we take our religion from, is it from the people of sunnah/hadith/narrations/the salaf or the people of bidaah? The prophet and his companions focused mainly on tawheed while giving dawah. Sticking to these roots helped them establish khalifah. Their imaan strengthened because their creed was sound. 

The moment you perfect your understanding of aqeedah and imaan, then implementing on the branches of imaan and working on your life in accordance with what pleases Allah is what will make you amongst muhsinoon. Or a true Muslim who really submitted himself to Allāh. 

This doesnt mean all others are kaafir…but yes some of them are…and some of them are mushrik…and some of them are upon bidaah, some of them are sinners grave and minor sinners…some of them are hypocrites minor or major. 

A muhsin isnt on these paths. To reach the level of companions and excellence of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wassalam, you have to live as if nothing else matters but pleasing Allāh alone sincerely. There cant be any compromise. You have to rush to his mercy you have to fear him as if you are aware he is watching you all the time, or knows every single act of yours, you have to love him more than anyone, and obedience to him should take priority over obedience to others whom you have to obey like your husbands or your parents or leaders of the nations. A muhsin understands intentions arent enough for a good deed to be accepted he also knows, the intention should be parallel with the way of the salaf or the sunnah…you cant say my intention was good while you do something haraam or something against the sunnah. People of bidaah have good intentions for mawlid but is it from sunnah ? Ofcourse not. This is why they arent muhsinoon nor people of sunnah.

So understand the foundations of your deen well and humble yourself to this extent infront of Allah that you succeed in being amongst the best of paradise and in the highest level of paradise.

 و الله اعلم