Even though the sin committed by such an individual is less...

Even though the sin committed by such an individual is less than that of a man whose decision is not to make up at all for belated divine duties, nonetheless this action is haram (forbidden by Islamic law).

Asceticism And Wrong Interpretations The other point worthy of mentioning is that matters have been mentioned in a lot of verses of the Glorious Qur’an and the hadith s which might have different and sometimes conflicting interpretations, and their explication calls for perfect expertise and professional knowledge in religious sciences for the reason that in such circumstances the possibility of error and the likelihood of inadmissible understandings is high.

For example, there are verses of the Glorious Qur’an and the hadith s that have been quoted whose apparent purport is rebuking, praising or retreating from the world, and whose interpretations vary and sometimes oppose each other. One of those interpretations is the Sufi version which is arrived at without paying attention to the other aspects of Islam and the explicit religious sciences.

In the Sufi point of view, man has to retreat from this world’s life and engage in worship in solitude far from the society and/or have companionship with animals, regardless that this kind of inference is in direct contradiction to the verses of the Glorious Qur’an, the hadith s and the categorical primary principles of religion.

If self-reclusion were the primacy of religion, then what fate will befall religious social obligations such as spending money and wealth in Allah’s cause, fighting against oppression, enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, and striving for the establishment of an Islamic government, which are among the explicit essentials of Islam!? And where, apart from in the society, are they supposed to be fulfilled? Can these responsibilities be discharged in privacy and seclusion?

It is for this reason that deduction of religious principles calls for expertise in the whole collection of religious sciences and it demands attention to all the aspects and dimensions of religion. In response to this misconception, it ought to be said that seeking the world is reprehensible if it is perceived as the ultimate goal of life. But if the world becomes a means of attaining the perfection of the hereafter, not only is it irreprehensible, but praiseworthy and commendable as well.