Rahbaniyya: monasticism, its rejection in Islam, and the preference for mixing with people

الرهبانية

Rahbaniyya is derived from fear and awe; a rahib (monk) was in origin a worshipper who lived in a cell among Christians and withdrew from worldly affairs, and the technical sense does not differ from this. ¹ Related terms are isolation (uzla), which is a means to monasticism and contrary to the norm and which may be lawful when society is corrupt, and wandering (siyaha) in the land for worship. ¹ The law forbade monasticism in the sense practised by Christian monks: excess in worship, abandoning worldly life, withdrawing from women and people, self-torment through hardship. The jurists rely on a Qur'anic verse from al-Ma'ida (verse 77), on the hadith that jihad is the monasticism of Islam, and on the hadith that whoever turns from my sunna is not of me. ² All scholars agree that it is better for a Muslim to mix with people, attend congregations and lessons, visit the sick, attend funerals, enjoin good and bear their harm patiently; al-Nawawi notes that this was the practice of the Prophet ﷺ, the prophets, and the rightly guided caliphs. ² Isolation is recommended when general corruption (fitna) prevails or when mixing would likely lead to what is forbidden; the traditions praise worship in times of turmoil and a man who keeps his faith by withdrawing to a mountain pass. ³