Benefits & Harms of Seclusion - Shaykh Zakaullah Saleem

Benefits & Harms of Seclusion

The Importance of Moments of Seclusion

In those moments of seclusion, we either better ourselves or we destroy our dunya and our akhirah. These moments of seclusion — when you are on your own, when you are alone — you can either benefit from those moments or you can suffer from the consequences and the bad effect and impact on your mind, soul, body, and even your practices.

The moments of seclusion are so important that when we study the seerah of Rasulullah, we come to know that he spent a certain period of time in seclusion before he received the very first revelation from Allah. Our Nabi used to seclude himself in the cave of Hira. As our mother Aisha has reported, he spent a period of six months secluding himself in the cave of Hira, worshipping Allah, pondering and reflecting on His creation, contemplating on the purpose of his creation.

So he spent that period in seclusion that actually enabled him to face all the challenges that he suffered from in the next 13 years — not only 13 years, even when he moved to Medina al-Munawwarah. When we study the seerah of the righteous and pious people, we also come to know that they always took advantage of the moments of seclusion.

Benefits of Beneficial Seclusion

When you are on your own, when no one can see you — obviously you cannot hide yourself from Allah — it means that you are alone with your Creator, with Allah. And Rasulullah has informed us about the great benefits of the moments of seclusion.

One of them is that the time you spend in your seclusion, when you are on your own, if you were to truly benefit from that time, and if you spend it the way that Allah is pleased with, then you can draw yourself close to Allah. You can attain the qurb and the nearness of Allah. And this is what happened to the Prophet.

Another benefit of utilizing the moments of seclusion in the best way is that it strengthens your iman. It makes you a stronger believer, because when you spend your time of seclusion worshipping Allah, it strengthens your iman and you feel yourself protected by the protection of Allah. Then no matter how great and severe a calamity, hardship, or difficulty comes your way, you feel yourself secure and protected by the protection of Allah, because you are well connected with your Lord, Allah.

It also enables the person to make du'a to Allah, and the du'a that you make to Allah in those moments of your seclusion is accepted and answered by Allah.

Another benefit of utilizing those moments of seclusion in the best way is that Allah showers tranquility on your heart so that it enables you to shed some tears before Allah. And if you do so, then those tears are the best possession, the best thing that you can have in this dunya — the most precious gift of Allah that you can have in this dunya. The few drops that come out of your eyes when you are on your own, you are alone, you are with your Lord Allah.

The Eyes That Will Never Suffer the Fire of Hell

Rasulullah said: There are two types of eyes that will never ever suffer from the fire of hell. And one of them is the eye that cries and sheds tears because of the fear of Allah.

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1639)

The Seven Under the Shade of Allah

He also said: On the Day of Judgment, when there is not going to be any shade in the plain of Hashr except the shade of Allah, Allah will bless seven types of people with His shade — and one of them is going to be a person who remembered Allah, who made du'a to Allah, who offered some nawafil, who read Quran, who did the dhikr of Allah — in his seclusion, when he was on his own, when no one could see him, when no one could praise him, when no one could say that he or she is such a pious and righteous individual. He was only himself — or she was only herself — and Allah. In that moment, if you shed some tears, as Rasulullah said: who remembers Allah while he is on his own, he secluded himself, and his eyes are flooded with tears — then such an individual is going to be amongst those people who are going to be blessed with the shade of Allah on the Day of Judgment.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 660; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1031)

The Prophetic Practice of Seclusion

My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, Rasulullah has encouraged us to take advantage of the moments of seclusion. And he himself spent his life — almost every single day, every single evening, and every single night — he would spend some time secluding himself, remembering Allah, making du'a to Allah, drawing himself near to Allah. And this was the practice of our Prophet.

And especially in this age and time, every one of us is in dire need of these types of moments — when we seclude ourselves, when we cut off from the dunya temporarily, and we spend our time with Allah: reading the Quran, reciting the book of Allah, remembering Allah, praising Him, thanking Him for all the blessings that He has showered on us, and then asking Allah for His mercy and for His blessings. We are all in need of these types of moments so that we can draw ourselves closer to Allah and we can attain the mercy and the blessings of Allah.

We ask Allah that He gives us tawfiq and ability to benefit from the moments of seclusion, and that He showers His mercy upon us, and that He strengthens us in our iman and increases our iman and our taqwa.

When Seclusion Can Be Harmful

My dear respected brothers and sisters in Islam, as we know that not every solution or every treatment or remedy is suitable for every individual. One medicine may benefit one individual, but the same medicine may be harmful for others. The same way, seclusion has a great impact on the person's iman and belief, on his taqwa, on his soul, mind, and his spirituality — it has a great impact, great effect. But for some people, secluding themselves can be really harmful.

If you are not on that level where you are advised to seclude yourself or to be on your own — we have people who suffer from anxiety and depression — for such individuals, being on their own can be harmful. Although if they try their best to remember Allah and if they can control themselves, then obviously it is better. But if you know that you cannot control yourself, then it is not advisable for you to seclude yourself, especially when you are going through these kinds of problems.

Likewise, there are individuals who cannot hold themselves from committing sins when they are on their own, when they are in their privacy and secrecy. Then for such individuals, if they cannot benefit from the moments of seclusion, it is not advised to them that they seclude themselves. Rather, they should concentrate on worshipping Allah in public — such as establishing the five daily prayers, attending the masjid, praying in congregation, reading the Quran while sitting in the masjid, making du'a to Allah — because to a certain extent, you can seclude yourself even when you are in public. When you stand before Allah in congregational prayer, you are reciting your own du'as, so to a certain extent you have secluded yourself.

But if you know yourself better than anyone else, then it is not for you to seclude yourself and to be on your own or to be alone if you cannot refrain from committing sins — because committing sins in seclusion can be really harmful. It will have harms on your soul, on your body, on your mind, on your practices, on your akhlaq, on your religion, on your iman in this dunya, as well as on the Hereafter.

The Warning Against Sins Committed in Private

As Rasulullah has warned us against the sins that are committed in privacy and secrecy — in a very famous hadith of Thawban, that is collected by Imam Ibn Majah and Imam al-Bayhaqi — who says that Rasulullah said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4245; also reported by al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman)

"By Allah, I know some people, some groups from my ummah, that they will come on the Day of Judgment with a great amount of good deeds — and their deeds will be as great in number and in count as the mountains of Tihama, an area within Arabia." And he said these people will bring their good deeds, expecting Allah to reward them for those good deeds. But what would happen? Allah will destroy all of their good deeds — all of their salawat, all of their charities, all of their du'as, the remembrance of Allah, all their good akhlaq, whatever they did in this dunya — all of their good deeds will be destroyed. Allah will turn all those good deeds into particles of dust.

The companions said: "O Messenger of Allah, please give us the description of these people. Explain to us explicitly so that we can understand." He said: "These people will be amongst you — your brothers in Islam, in iman, in religion. Not only that they are believers and they are Muslims — rather, they used to spend some time at night to worship Allah. But there was only one problem in them that led to the destruction of all their good deeds."

What was it? He said: "These were the people who, whenever they found an opportunity in seclusion to commit sin, to displease Allah and to disobey Allah, they would do so." And because of this — because in public they were seen as such a pious individual, a righteous individual, someone who has grown the beard and is wearing his robe, and a sister wearing niqab — in public they were seen as such a righteous and pious individual, but in their privacy, their secrecy, and their seclusion, they were committing sins.

So if you cannot benefit from the moments of seclusion — by worshipping Allah, by remembering your sins, by asking Allah for forgiveness, by repenting to Allah, by shedding tears before Allah — then avoid seclusion. Try not to be on your own.

Likewise, those people who suffer from waswas — one of the best remedies for them is not to be on their own. They should be with someone at all times.

We ask Allah that He gives us the ability to increase our iman.

The Du'a of Rasulullah for Private Life

Finally, I would like to share with you the du'a of Rasulullah that he used to make. And this is very important for all of us to remember and memorize — and to ask Allah to accept this du'a. He used to beg Allah, requesting Allah:

"Oh Allah, make my secrecy better than my public life." This is something that we all need to remember, and we need to make du'a to Allah. It also shows the importance of the moment of seclusion in the eyes of Rasulullah, because he considered the private life to be far better than the public life.