What is rahbaniyyah (monasticism), and how can it become a danger to Islam?

What is Rahbaniyaat, and how can it become a danger to Islam?

Conclusion

Rahbaniyyah (monasticism) is withdrawing from marriage and the world's lawful pleasures as a form of devotion. The Qur'an says Christians invented it without Allah ordaining it, and that they then failed to keep it. The sources point to several dangers. It forbids what Allah has made lawful, which is a transgression. It sets a person against the Prophet's Sunnah, and whoever turns away from that Sunnah 'is not of me'. It can push people to self-harm: the Companions nearly castrated themselves. And it overburdens believers until they give up.

Reflection & guidance

Meaning
Rahbaniyyah is a religious practice people made up for themselves: shutting oneself off from marriage and the world's lawful pleasures as a way to reach Allah. Allah did not command it. Q1 C1
Guidance from the Qur'an
The verses ask the reader to accept the good things Allah made lawful with gratitude and not to add hardships Allah never prescribed. Rules people invent for themselves end up neglected, as happened with those before. Q1 Q2
Guidance from the Sunnah
The Prophet made balance part of his Sunnah: praying and sleeping, fasting and eating, marrying. He also warned that whoever overburdens himself in religion will be overcome by it. H3 H9
Guidance from the scholars
Ibn Kathir warns against both extremes: forbidding what is lawful, and indulging in it to excess. Al-Nawawi separates harmful celibacy from praiseworthy self-restraint that harms no one and neglects no one's rights. He also notes that the Prophet criticised the act publicly without naming the people involved, so as not to shame them. T2 C1 C3

Sources

Qur'an & Tafsir

Summary

The Qur'an says rahbaniyyah (monasticism) was invented by Jesus's followers, not ordained by Allah, and that they then failed to observe it as they should have. It forbids believers to make unlawful the good things Allah has made lawful. Q1 Q2 T2

Key points

Even the self-imposed monasticism, adopted to seek Allah's pleasure, was not kept as it should have been, and many of its people became sinners. Q1
Ibn Kathir reports from Ibn 'Abbas that 5:87 was revealed about Companions who wanted to castrate themselves, give up worldly desires and wander the land 'just as the Ruhban (monks) do'. He titles it 'There is No Monasticism in Islam'. T2
Ibn Kathir explains 'do not transgress' as not making things hard for yourselves by forbidding what is permitted, and also not over-indulging in it. T2

References

Q1Al-Hadid 57:27 · The Iron
Q2Al-Ma'idah 5:87 · The Table Spread
T2Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 5:87

Sunnah

Summary

The Prophet rejected Companions' vows to give up marriage, meat, sleeping in a bed or breaking their fast. He held up his own balanced practice and said whoever turns away from his Sunnah is not of him. He also forbade 'Uthman ibn Maz'un to live in celibacy. H3 H2 H9

Key points

Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas said that if 'Uthman ibn Maz'un had been allowed celibacy, 'we would have got ourselves castrated' (Sahih Muslim). This shows how far the urge could go once it was allowed. H2
The Prophet said religion is easy, and whoever overburdens himself in it will be overcome by it. He told believers not to be extremists, to aim close to what is right, and to take strength from worship at set times (Sahih al-Bukhari). H9

References

H2Sahih Muslim 3406 · The Book of Marriage
Authenticity
- Sahih — the whole collection is accepted as authentic (Sahih Muslim)
H3Sunan an Nasai 3217 · The Book of Marriage
Authenticity
- Sahih Abu Ghuddah
- Sahih Al-Albani
- Sahih Muslim Zubair Ali Zai
H9Sahih al Bukhari 39 · Belief
Authenticity
- Sahih — the whole collection is accepted as authentic (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Hadith Commentaries

Summary

Al-Nawawi defines tabattul (cutting oneself off) as giving up women and marriage to devote oneself to worship. Al-Tabari, as al-Nawawi quotes him, defines it as leaving the world's pleasures to devote oneself to Allah. Al-Nawawi says the forbidden kind is the kind that causes harm. Giving up pleasures without harming oneself or neglecting anyone's rights is a virtue. C1 C3 C6

Key points

Al-Nawawi says the prohibition covers two people: one who longs for marriage and can afford it, and one whom celibacy harms through heavy, burdensome worship. He adds that the Companions had wrongly thought, by their own reasoning, that castration was allowed, but castrating a human being is haram (forbidden). C1
Al-Nawawi explains 'whoever turns away from my Sunnah' as leaving it out of aversion and without believing in it as it truly is. Someone who skips marriage where that is recommended, or skips the bed because he cannot use it or is busy with permitted worship, is not blamed. C3
Al-Azimabadi reports al-Khattabi's explanation of 'no sarurah in Islam': one meaning of sarurah is a man who has cut himself off from marriage after the monasticism of the Christians. Al-Mundhiri notes that a narrator in this chain was weakened by several imams. C6

References

C1al-Minhaj Sharh Sahih Muslim on Sahih Muslim 1402 · al-Nawawi, vol. 9 p. 175
C3al-Minhaj Sharh Sahih Muslim on Sahih Muslim 1401 · al-Nawawi, vol. 9 p. 175
C6Awn al-Ma'bud on Sunan Abi Dawud 1729 · al-Azimabadi, vol. 5 p. 105

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What is Rahbaniyaat, and how can it become a danger to Islam?

Conclusion

Reflection & guidance

Meaning
Rahbaniyyah is a religious practice people made up for themselves: shutting oneself off from marriage and the world's lawful pleasures as a way to reach Allah. Allah did not command it. Q1 C1
Guidance from the Qur'an
The verses ask the reader to accept the good things Allah made lawful with gratitude and not to add hardships Allah never prescribed. Rules people invent for themselves end up neglected, as happened with those before. Q1 Q2
Guidance from the Sunnah
The Prophet made balance part of his Sunnah: praying and sleeping, fasting and eating, marrying. He also warned that whoever overburdens himself in religion will be overcome by it. H3 H9
Guidance from the scholars
Ibn Kathir warns against both extremes: forbidding what is lawful, and indulging in it to excess. Al-Nawawi separates harmful celibacy from praiseworthy self-restraint that harms no one and neglects no one's rights. He also notes that the Prophet criticised the act publicly without naming the people involved, so as not to shame them. T2 C1 C3

Sources

Qur'an & Tafsir

Summary

Key points

Even the self-imposed monasticism, adopted to seek Allah's pleasure, was not kept as it should have been, and many of its people became sinners. Q1
Ibn Kathir reports from Ibn 'Abbas that 5:87 was revealed about Companions who wanted to castrate themselves, give up worldly desires and wander the land 'just as the Ruhban (monks) do'. He titles it 'There is No Monasticism in Islam'. T2
Ibn Kathir explains 'do not transgress' as not making things hard for yourselves by forbidding what is permitted, and also not over-indulging in it. T2

References

Q1Al-Hadid 57:27 · The Iron
Q2Al-Ma'idah 5:87 · The Table Spread
T2Tafsir Ibn Kathir on 5:87

Sunnah

Summary

Key points

Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas said that if 'Uthman ibn Maz'un had been allowed celibacy, 'we would have got ourselves castrated' (Sahih Muslim). This shows how far the urge could go once it was allowed. H2
The Prophet said religion is easy, and whoever overburdens himself in it will be overcome by it. He told believers not to be extremists, to aim close to what is right, and to take strength from worship at set times (Sahih al-Bukhari). H9

References

H2Sahih Muslim 3406 · The Book of Marriage
Authenticity
- Sahih — the whole collection is accepted as authentic (Sahih Muslim)
H3Sunan an Nasai 3217 · The Book of Marriage
Authenticity
- Sahih Abu Ghuddah
- Sahih Al-Albani
- Sahih Muslim Zubair Ali Zai
H9Sahih al Bukhari 39 · Belief
Authenticity
- Sahih — the whole collection is accepted as authentic (Sahih al-Bukhari)

Hadith Commentaries

Summary

Key points

Al-Nawawi says the prohibition covers two people: one who longs for marriage and can afford it, and one whom celibacy harms through heavy, burdensome worship. He adds that the Companions had wrongly thought, by their own reasoning, that castration was allowed, but castrating a human being is haram (forbidden). C1
Al-Nawawi explains 'whoever turns away from my Sunnah' as leaving it out of aversion and without believing in it as it truly is. Someone who skips marriage where that is recommended, or skips the bed because he cannot use it or is busy with permitted worship, is not blamed. C3
Al-Azimabadi reports al-Khattabi's explanation of 'no sarurah in Islam': one meaning of sarurah is a man who has cut himself off from marriage after the monasticism of the Christians. Al-Mundhiri notes that a narrator in this chain was weakened by several imams. C6

References

C1al-Minhaj Sharh Sahih Muslim on Sahih Muslim 1402 · al-Nawawi, vol. 9 p. 175
C3al-Minhaj Sharh Sahih Muslim on Sahih Muslim 1401 · al-Nawawi, vol. 9 p. 175
C6Awn al-Ma'bud on Sunan Abi Dawud 1729 · al-Azimabadi, vol. 5 p. 105

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What is Rahbaniyaat, and how can it become a danger to Islam?Share answer

Conclusion

Reflection & guidance

Sources

Qur'an & Tafsir

Summary

Key points

References

Sunnah

Summary

Key points

References

Hadith Commentaries

Summary

Key points

References

Comments

What is Rahbaniyaat, and how can it become a danger to Islam?Share answer

Conclusion

Reflection & guidance

Sources

Qur'an & Tafsir

Summary

Key points

References

Sunnah

Summary

Key points

References

Hadith Commentaries

Summary

Key points

References

Comments

What is Rahbaniyaat, and how can it become a danger to Islam?

What is Rahbaniyaat, and how can it become a danger to Islam?