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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books 180 Questions Enquiries About Islam Volume Two: Various issues How does Islam view Monasticism?

==================================== In verse 27 of Suratul Hadid, we read: وَ رَهْبَانِيَّةً ابْتَدَعُوهَا مَا كَتَبْنَاهَا عَلَيْهِمْ إِلاَّ ابْـتِغَآءَ رِضْوَانِ اللٌّهِ فَمَا رَعَوْهَا حَقَّ رِعَايَـتِهَا “And (as for) monkery, they innovated it– We did not prescribe it to them– only to seek Allah's pleasure, but they did not observe it with its due observance.” In view of the above verse, the question that arises is: What is Islam's viewpoint about monasticism?

The term رَهباَنِيَّة (Monasticism) is derived from رهبة meaning fear and dread, which, in this case, means fear of Allah (s.w.t.). According to Raghib, in his book Mufradat, it is a fear, which is in combination with piety and perturbation. The word تَرَهُّب is in the meaning of تَعَبُّد, to worship; and رَهباَنِيَّة means intense devotion and worship.

Monasticism of a desired kind existed amongst the Christians although it had not been made compulsory in Christianity; however, the followers of 'Isa (a.s.) distorted the concept by hauling it beyond its limits. And it is for this reason that Islam has vehemently denounced it and the well-known tradition, which states: لاَ رَهْبَانِيَّةَ فِي الإِسْلاَمِ.

“There is no (room for) monasticism in Islam”, is witnessed in numerous Islamic sources.[^1] One of the ugly innovations of the Christians with respect to monasticism had been 'prohibition of marriage' for the males and females who had abandoned the world. Others were 'social seclusion', disregarding the human responsibilities within a society, selecting secluded and far-flung monasteries and nunneries for living and worship in an environment, isolated from society.

Later, great evils came into existence within the monasteries and the living centres of the monks, some of which - Allah (s.w.t.) Willing - we shall present later as a concluding portion of this discussion.

Certainly, the monks and nuns did extend positive services too like nursing individuals suffering from diseases that were dangerous and difficult to cure such as leprosy; propagation of religion in regions that were distant and amongst people that were wild and barbaric; initiating research programmes etc. Nevertheless, these acts in comparison to the entire system were trivial and insignificant, and on the whole, its evils were far greater than its benefits.

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