At a glance
- Era
- The Prophetic Era
- Region
- Global / Diaspora
- Review
- Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it
Spirituality and SufismEthics and character
Overview
For Shaykh Mahmud Shaltut, tabattul is withdrawal from life and total renunciation of the world — perpetual fasting, abandoning marriage and earning, contentment with a hermitage or cave. Islam, he holds, confines man's relation to the world to two courses with no third, and absolute renunciation is neither 12. This course paralyses the powers of thought and work God gave man, leaving the secrets of the universe unused 3. To those who cite the texts blaming the world he answers: what is blamed is taking God's blessings as a path to passion — not life itself and its good.
Connections
- Related to
- Renunciation (zuhd)· Greed for worldly gain (takathur)
People and things also explored
Social solidarity and religious brotherhood· Eating little· Curtailing hope in the world (qisar al-amal)· Wara' (scrupulosity)· Greed for worldly gain (takathur)· Renunciation (zuhd)· Arba'un 31 — renounce the world and God will love you· Arba'un 40 — be in this world as a stranger or a wayfarer
Sources
- The Qur'anic Method in Building Society — Mahmud Shaltut , p. 21
- The Qur'anic Method in Building Society — Mahmud Shaltut , p. 23
- The Qur'anic Method in Building Society — Mahmud Shaltut , p. 24
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “Tabattul (withdrawal from the world)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/al-tabattul/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-22.