Suhba
Definition
Suhba — companionship — takes on special importance in the context of travel, because the road creates an unusually intense and revealing form of human relationship. Al-Ghazali says that travel is one of the most reliable ways to truly know a person's character: the discomforts, delays, and friction of the journey reveal qualities that social life's conveniences conceal. The prophetic guidance on choosing travel companions is therefore not merely practical but spiritual — the person you travel with shapes your experience of the journey and, through sustained proximity in difficult conditions, shapes your character as well.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Suhba.
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""Indeed, اللّٰه is with the patient" from سُورَة البَقَرَة, and "Indeed, اللّٰه is with the doers of good" from سُورَة العَنْكَبُوت. This is a companionship of nearness that includes loyalty, support, and protection. Both meanings involve His companionship with the servant. However, the general companionship is one of awareness and encompassing, while the special companionship is one of loyalty, support, and assistance."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, Volume Two
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"and makes one averse to mingling with creation. Contemplating the knowledge of nearness involves the heart's realization of a special companionship with اللّٰه. There are two types of companionship: a general one, which is the companionship of knowledge and awareness, as in His saying: "And He is with you wherever you are" from سُورَة الحَدِيد, and "No private conversation takes place among three, but He is their fourth, nor among five but He is their sixth, nor fewer nor more, but He is with them wherever they are" from سُورَة المُجَادِلَة."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, Volume Two
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"Thus the special companionship that belongs to the believer with his Lord and God has become, for this disbeliever and transgressor, a companionship with Satan, with his own soul, his caprice, and those he draws near. This is why the verse opens with His words: "And they worship besides God that which neither benefits them nor harms them." This worship is precisely allegiance, love, and contentment with those they worship, which entails that special companionship with them."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Fawāʾid — Points of Benefit, Volume One
Appears in
2 books in the library
Hear the term in context.
Every book above uses Suhba the way the classical scholars meant it. Listen with the full Study Kit in the app.