Al-Albani: Has the Time Come for People to Go off and Live Alone by Themselves?

Shaikh Muḥammad Naṣir Al-Dīn Al-Albānī, may Allāh have mercy on him, said:

Al-ʿUzlah and Al-Harj

The time has not yet come for [calling people to] al-ʿuzlah [people going off to live in solitude]. Al-ʿUzlah is only legally correct in the Sharīʿah when harj occurs in great numbers, that is, killing among Muslims as a result of fanaticism—tribal, sectarian, and the like.

As for this ʿuzlah, and all praise is due to Allāh, it’s time has not yet come, and I hope we don’t reach that [time].

Believers Who Mix and Those Who Don’t

Conversely, the Messenger ﷺ says: “A believer that mixes with people and is patient with their harms is better than than one who does not mix with them and bear their harms.”¹

Different Dispositions and the Middle Way

People differ in nature and disposition. [There are] people [who want to] hide themselves away in seclusion [no matter what] the age, even if it were the Age of the Rightly Guided Caliphs. [Then there are] people who love mixing with others, even if they were open or shameless sinners. The truth is between these two [extremes].

How to Decide When to Mix or Not

So a person should mix with others as long as he doesn’t find, as a result of his mixing, any harm [coming] to himself—in his religion, his [health and] body, his children, or his descendants.

I don’t believe there’s a Muslim upon knowledge of the Book and the Sunnah who says this is the time for ʿuzlah.

What About Time of Trials and Tribulations?

[Person attending]: It’s a time of trials and tribulations.

[Shaikh Al-Albānī]: It’s a time of trials and tribulations, no doubt. Walk on the streets and you’ll see tabarruj [women making impermissible displays of their beauty]. But it’s not that period of time when al-ʿuzlah becomes legally correct in the Sharīʿah because that only becomes legally correct during the time when there are severe trials and tribulations among Muslims, [with Muslims] killing one another. [It’s for that time that] the Prophet ﷺ says [that] if you have a sword [then], strike it upon a rock [to render it unusable],² and the matter is finished.

Personal ʿUzlah vs. Calling to ʿUzlah

[Person attending]: O Shaikh of ours, some people say [regarding] the ḥadīth, “A believer who’s patient with [what comes out of] mixing with people is better than one who doesn’t mix with people and bear their harms with patience,” some of them say: I’m not able to bear this mixing with patience and because of that, I hold the opinion that seclusion for myself [is what I must do]. Is this saying correct?

[Shaikh Al-Albānī]: I said just a little while ago … just a little while ago, I said: if he finds for himself that he doesn’t benefit from mixing with people but instead possibly brings harm upon himself [by doing that], then this is his [personal] situation. But this [mustn’t then] become a general call to [all] Muslims. I stated [that] this [personal choice applies] during times that are good: a person might [choose to] to go into seclusion from people, being unable [himself] to mix with people.

[Person attending]: So it’s not allowed to broadcast this idea [of ʿuzlah] that he himself is convinced with for himself to his brothers [in Islam]?

[Shaikh Al-Albānī]: Yes, [that’s right, it’s not allowed.]

[Person attending]: Or to get his brothers to do this thing?

[Shaikh Al-Albānī]: Yes, [right], of course, it’s not allowed […].

Source: Silsilah Al-Hudá wa-l-Nūr, 19.

TN: All titles and headings are my own