The hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) — he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

The Shaykh : The hadith that follows is similar to the one before it, with some differences in the details. It is also one of the authentic hadiths. It says: And from Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) — he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: . This contains more leniency for people than the previous hadith. The earlier hadith required performing five traits in one day to attain the virtue mentioned in the hadith, which is being recorded among the people of Paradise. But in our current hadith, Allah (Mighty and Majestic) grants His believing servants additional favor from Himself by saying on the tongue of His Prophet: . It was narrated by Ahmad and al-Tabarani, and the wording is his, and by Abu Ya'la, Ibn Khuzaymah, and Ibn Hibban in their "Sahih"s. Abu Dawud narrated something similar from the hadith of Abu Umamah, and it was mentioned earlier in the section on Dhikr.
; that is, he has a guarantee from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that He will admit him to Paradise and protect him from the Fire. . Regarding this, it is said what was said about the last trait in the previous hadith: . Today, there is no way to achieve the going out mentioned in this hadith — with great regret — as is known to everyone.
Another trait, which is perhaps also possible but difficult to realize, is . I say: it is perhaps difficult, perhaps impossible; because when the term "imam" is used in the legal Arabic language, it refers to the imam who has been pledged allegiance to in the well-known Islamic pledge of obedience in matters other than sin. This — with regret — does not exist in the Muslim world today. May it return to the Muslims, as we said earlier, their glory and their honor; that is, by having a Muslim caliph over them who judges between them by what Allah has revealed. This trait is that the Muslim enters upon such an imam as mentioned or referred to earlier: . Here, "ta'zir" (discretionary punishment) is the same as "taqdir" (reverence). So his saying: , and his saying: is an explanatory apposition and interpretation of the "ta'zir" mentioned in the hadith; because the word "ta'zir" in the language is one of the words of opposites, and there are many examples of this in the Arabic language, where a single word gives two opposite meanings, and the context and preceding text explain and define it. Here, it was interpreted with a synonym for the intended meaning here. You know, for example, from the legal rulings in the book of Hudud (fixed punishments), there is a chapter called "The Chapter of Ta'zir," and what is meant by it is disciplining one who has committed a legal error for which there is no prescribed hudud punishment in the Shari'ah, so the ruling imam disciplines him with what he sees or what he sees as discipline for him. This is called ta'zir. Is there reverence in this ta'zir? The opposite; it contains some humiliation.
Therefore, ta'zir comes with two meanings: the meaning of humiliation and the meaning of honor and reverence. This second meaning is what is intended here, and the evidence for that is clear from the conjunction of "reverence" with "ta'zir."
And the scholars say: How can ta'zir be a word of opposites with this difference in meaning?
They say: Because there is a common element; so whether ta'zir is in the meaning of reverence intended here, or in the meaning that entails some humiliation, in both meanings there is a common element, which is prevention. So when the one who enters upon the imam intends to honor and revere him, he intends to prevent from him anything that harms him. Therefore, the meaning of ta'zir here is realized, but with this detail. Likewise, when a hudud punishment that is not prescribed but rather from the chapter of ta'zir is executed on one who has erred or sinned, this ta'zir also intends to prevent the one who was disciplined from returning again to his bad deed.
So in both meanings, there is a common element, whether reverence is intended or humiliation is intended. If reverence is intended, the intention is to prevent what harms the one who is revered. And if the meaning of humiliation is intended, the intention is to prevent the one who is humiliated by ta'zir from returning to his bad deed.
Then he said, as an apposition to what preceded, and it is the fifth and last trait: ; it is, and it appears that this last paragraph is not in every time and every place, but rather in the time of fitnah (trial); because it is known in Islam that Islam is built on social interaction, which entails enjoining good and forbidding evil. And one who is confined to his home does not attain such virtues. Especially since it is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: . So this is the principle for the Muslim to be social, but not social in the way they say in sociology; because the naturally social person has no limits there that he adheres to and other aspects that he avoids. Rather, he is social according to the Shari'ah, where the Shari'ah commands him to stand, he stands, and where it commands him to advance, he advances, and so on.
So the principle for the Muslim is to be social in this way, except in emergency circumstances; in these circumstances, a ruling comes that suits the situation. In my understanding of this hadith, the last paragraph applies in the time of fitnah where it is predominant for the Muslim that if he mixes with people, he will be harmed in his religion or his honor. Therefore, it is necessary to use analogy and look at the matter so that we do not forget this virtue and generalize the previous rule: and so on. Generalizing this rule makes us forget this virtue, and generalizing this virtue makes us forget that rule. Therefore, the Muslim must be wise and weigh matters with a precise scale. I say this because many people, since hundreds of years, since long centuries, have written books and composed treatises encouraging seclusion. The book "Ihya' 'Ulum al-Din" (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) by al-Ghazali includes a book titled "The Book of Seclusion," and the Imam al-Khattabi, the famous hadith scholar and linguist, has a specific book — also — on "Seclusion" that is printed.
So here, there are many and very many discussions between those who are naturally inclined to seclusion, who are mostly from the Sufis; there is a long discussion between these people and the scholars who always engage in social interaction and carry out what Allah has commanded of enjoining good and forbidding evil within the limits of ability, as he (peace be upon him) said: and the rest of the hadith.
So the discussion was going on between the two groups, between one who prefers seclusion and one who prefers social interaction. And the correct view between the two positions is the detail I referred to earlier. If the Muslim mixes with his society and that results in the greatest and most harm for him, then this is the place for seclusion, and he confines himself to his home, and is safe from the harm of people and people are safe from his harm. And if the opposite is the case; because the benefits obtained from his mixing with society are greater than his withdrawing into himself and sitting in his home, then at that time, social interaction is better than this sitting.