minimum) or an ascetic in any
religious sense, his connection with
Allah strengthens by the day. This was
the purpose of putting the blessed
Prophet a through a pre-prophetic
phase of solitude, which became most
beloved to him (Tirmidhi; 5/596). It
is important to note that no dhikr
was prescribed, no ayah was revealed,
no invocation was taught to prepare
him for prophethood. The first
step was only that ‘solitude became
beloved to him;’ to refresh him, to
detoxify. While the blessed Prophet
a was in the cave of Hira, he did not
commit himself to any worship, or
any other act of doing for that matter.
He secluded himself for the sake
of solitude itself and to enjoy just
being. The fact that it was
requisite for him to graduate
from this phase to receive
prophethood, proves that
solitude and seclusion were
essential to achieving the
basic connection of Allah,
which would be further
tightened and strengthened
with various devotions and worship.
The objection is raised about an aya
that proclaims that salat prohibits
evil and lewdness when we observe
many who pray and still disobey Allah
and are hurtful to others. The above
discussion explains that without the
basic connection that evolves from
solitude, the ability of salat or any
other worship to strengthen that
connection, is severely compromised.
Solitude has been largely
marginalized in the Islamic society
today because we believe that
remembrance of Allah and other
alternative worships can fulfill the
job of bringing us closer to Allah.
This is a misconception. If we are as
hyper- connected as we are today
through social media and cellphones,
and our network of friends is evergrowing
through the help of these
outlets, how are we to remember
Allah at all, even when we are in a
state of worship. How many times
do we pray salat in congregation and
the imam forgetfully prays the wrong
number of rak‘a and there is no one
to call it out but for two worshippers
out of one hundred? Moreover,
who said the remembrance of Allah
is confined to regulatory worship?
Should we not be more conscious
of Allah in our free time as well?
I don’t mean worshipping in the
conventional sense of worship, but
for example, we may be out camping
and soaking in the beauties of nature.
We could be absorbed with and
overwhelmed with our awe of Him.
We could be sitting with our elderly
parents, conscious that He is pleased
with us for spending time with
them. These are all subtle forms of
remembrance of Allah, but they can
only come to our conscious when we
have been through the detoxification
process of solitude that rids of all
the connections that overtake the
conscious and subconscious levels
of our mind and make us endlessly
forgetful and ignorant of Allah.
Solitude was officially incorporated
into Islamic worship in two main
forms. One is tahajjud and the other
is i‘tikaf. The purpose of these two
devotions was seclusion from the
world and to enter into a state of
solitude. When one wakes up in the
morning, the mind is fresh and free
of all thoughts and connections.
The factory that is constantly
manufacturing ideas, thoughts and
plans, doesn’t power up and go into
operational mode until it starts
connecting in small ways with the
world around it. Allah indicates this
state in the words, “Indeed, the hours
of the night are more effective for
concurrence of heart and tongue
and more suitable for words” (73:6).
Then, there is the i‘tikaf in the last
ten days of Ramadan. The blessed
Prophet a was diligent about i‘tikaf
in the last ten days of Ramadan
(Bukhari; Kitab al-I‘tikaf). Though it
is Sunna, he made sure to perform
qada for i‘tikaf if he ever missed it
(as he did due to the Battle of Badr,
which occurred in Ramadan; Abu
Dawud; Bab al-I‘tikaf). Once, the
Mothers of the Believers l set up
their tents in the masjid around the
blessed Prophet’s a tent to perform
i‘tikaf with him. The blessed Prophet
a pulled out of i‘tikaf seeing
that the purpose of i‘tikaf,
which was to disconnect
and devote oneself to
Allah, would be defeated
if his wives would join
him in i‘tikaf. Instead, he
skipped i‘tikaf that year
and made it up in the ten
days of Shawwal (Bukhari; al-I‘tikaf
laylan). In the last year of his life,
the blessed Prophet a made i‘tikaf
for the last twenty days of Ramadan
in preparation to meet Allah, as he
was aware that his time in this world
was coming to an end. To further
enhance his seclusion, though he was
already in the masjid, he withdrew
into a Turkish tent as narrated in a
hadith of Ibn Maja (al-I‘tikaf fi khaymat
al-masjid). This doesn’t mean that
the blessed Prophet a never came
out of seclusion during i‘tikaf when
necessary. He did so, but considering
his colossal prophetic and personal
responsibilities, it is impressive
that we can cite only two or three
examples of his withdrawing from
seclusion to attend to his mission or
personal needs.
continued on page 18
If we have never performed
or even planned for i‘tikaf,
this maybe the time to start.
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