Khalwa
Definition
Khalwa is the deliberate withdrawal from society for a period of concentrated worship, remembrance, and inner purification — a practice with deep roots in prophetic tradition (the Prophet ﷺ would retreat to the cave of Hira before prophethood) and in the practice of the scholars and saints of Islam. Al-Ghazali presents khalwa not as a permanent lifestyle for most Muslims but as a periodic medicine: a time when the heart, freed from the constant stimulation of social life, can attend to itself, identify its diseases, and apply the remedies that ordinary life's busyness prevents. The conditions, duration, and spiritual preparation for khalwa all matter enormously to its effectiveness.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
Appears in
1 book in the library
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