How do I deal with loneliness as a Muslim?
Loneliness is a door to Allah the scholars pointed to specifically. The heart that has only Allah left to turn to, they said, has been given a gift.
10 passages from 7 books in the library
The classical scholars saw loneliness as a door to Allah rather than only a hardship. Al-Ghazali, in his Etiquettes of Seclusion, counsels the one whose heart feels confined by solitude to remember death and the loneliness of the grave, putting present aloneness in perspective. Yet he balances this: "a righteous companion is better than solitude, and solitude is better than" bad company. The heart left with only Allah to turn to, the tradition holds, has been given a gift — for true intimacy is found in turning to the One who alone endures.
Drawn from the classical sources below — in the scholars' own words.
The classical approach.
These passages are drawn from 7 books by Imam al-Ghazali and Ibn Kathir — part of the classical Sunni tradition that carries over a thousand years of reflection on the Qurʾān, the authentic Sunnah, and the consensus of the early community. Nothing below is a paraphrase. The words are the scholars' own, translated from the original Arabic manuscripts.
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"remember death and the loneliness of the grave whenever his heart feels confined by solitude."
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"Be certain that a righteous companion is better than solitude, and solitude is better than"
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"Hearing about good and evil alone can alter one's disposition, let alone witnessing it."
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"of one's inner self, which cannot be achieved in solitude. For any content person alone"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"it to Allah alone. He said, I leave it to Allah alone. Umar said, Then it is good. Al-Hassan"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Glory be to Him who is alone in dominion and authority, who alone merits eternal existence,"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"In this resurrection, the servant is alone, and it is said, And you have come to us alone"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"Do not be alone with a woman who is not lawful for you, for no man is alone with a woman"
14th century · Bosra, Syria
Monumental history Al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah, the world's most widely read Qurʾanic commentary, and the classical Stories of the Prophets.
More on Ibn Kathir →
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"There is no deity, but Allah alone with no partner to him belongs sovereignty and praise and he is over all things omnipotent"
11th–12th century · Ṭūs, Khurāsān
Reviving the inner life of Islam through the Iḥyāʾ ʿUlūm al-Dīn — one of the most influential works ever written in any religious tradition.
More on Imam al-Ghazali →
· Provenance →
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"The Book of Condemnation of Pride and Self-Admiration has ended. Praise be to Allah alone, and sufficient"
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