Lesson on "Al-Adab al-Mufrad," "The Chapter on the One Who Is Patient with the Harm of People," the Hadith of Ibn 'Umar, number (388)

The Shaykh : ... He whom Allah guides is not to be led astray, and he whom He leaves to stray has no guide. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger, , , . As for what follows:
Indeed, the best of speech is the speech of Allah, and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and the worst of matters are their innovations, and every innovation is a religious innovation, and every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The Chapter on the One Who Is Patient with the Harm of People." He narrated with a sound chain from Ibn 'Umar from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) who said: .
This hadith clarifies that it is better for the Muslim to live among people, to deal with them, and to mix with them; because in this living together and this mixing there is good for him and for those he mixes with. That is because the one who mixes with people is either in need of knowledge, in which case he benefits from what they have in his mixing with them; especially if these people are from the people of knowledge, virtue, and good character. And if he is from among them—that is, from the people of knowledge, virtue, and good character—it is even more fitting for him to be a benefit to the other people he mixes with and lives among.
The truth is that this hadith contains a refutation of a trend followed by some Islamic sects for a long time; namely, those who are known as the Sufis. These Sufis are known among all Islamic groups or sects for being withdrawn from themselves, sitting in their corners and in houses they called by special names, such as tekias and zawiyas. Some of them even went to the extreme of leaving the company of people entirely, even in these zawiyas and tekias. So one of them would go out to live with the beasts in the deserts, wildernesses, and uninhabited places. All of this was to escape mixing with people; because they believed that this mixing does not bring them good, but rather brings them evil. Therefore, they preferred to live outside of buildings. They have many, many stories about this, which were related in the books of spiritual admonition and the books of the miracles of the awliya (close friends of Allah) and the righteous—so they claimed! So this hadith contains a clear refutation of these people.
Islam was not sent by our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) for people to live in a single row. Rather, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sent down His religion and sent His messengers so that there would be a community (ummah) in which some live with others, some cooperate with others in good, and they enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, as He (Mighty and Majestic) said: . The man who lives alone and does not live among his kind has no opportunity to be described with this noble attribute by which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) described this community, and one of its most prominent attributes is that you enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. So the man who lives in the wildernesses, deserts, and uninhabited places finds no one to enjoin what is right for him and forbid what is wrong for him. He finds no one to teach him anything of what Allah taught, if he has knowledge. And if he is in ignorance, he finds no one to learn from him what Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) taught. Therefore, he lives his whole life in a state of barrenness, like the lands in which he lives, which are barren of knowledge, barren of character, and barren of the softness and gentleness that a Muslim should possess, considering that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) described the believer with many attributes; among them he said: . This attribute of being easy-going and gentle cannot be imprinted on that person who lives in the deserts. Therefore, it came in many authentic hadiths... in which the Messenger (peace be upon him) described the Bedouins who live in the deserts and do not live in the cities as having hard hearts and harsh livers. So it is no wonder that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade in some hadiths the Bedouin who migrated from his Bedouin life to a city, to civilization, from returning to what he was accustomed to of Bedouin life. Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, to confirm this meaning which we are discussing: . means the one who lives in the desert, meaning the one who lives the life of the Bedouins, meaning: his nature became rough and harsh. So how can a Muslim leave the Islamic community, not mixing with them and not living among them, to live alone as we mentioned, outside the cities in the wildernesses and deserts? At that time, his nature becomes harsh, his knowledge decreases, and the matters of the Shari'ah become inverted and reversed for him.