Tazkiya and Renunciation of the World

In later times one group adopted the path of renunciation of the world in order to attain tazkiya. But disenchantment with the world is required in the psychological sense rather than in the practical sense. The world is inhabited by human beings, as such, renouncing the world is akin to renouncing people. A preacher of truth or a reformer cannot afford to abandon people on any pretext. Others may see people from other angles, but a preacher looks at people as a potential seekers. In the eyes of a reformer, every human being is a seeker of the truth, be he rich or poor, a commoner or a VIP, ruler or ruled. Even if he is a rival or a tyrant, in the eyes of the reformer, he is a human being. And every sincere preacher’s first desire is to convey the truth to him.

A reformer cannot afford to say that if someone enters from one gate, he will go out from another gate. He will instead say that the visitor is a seeker for him and, as such, he will meet him and convey the message of truth to him with wisdom.

Renouncing the world is, in fact, renouncing the seekers. Renouncing the world is, in effect, to go away from those to whom the preacher would normally want to convey the divine truth. A businessman can walk away from everything but he cannot walk away from his customers. In a similar way, a preacher can tolerate everything but he cannot tolerate going to a secluded place where there are no people who may be potential seekers of the truth. When he remains among people, he may be beset by certain problems, but he overlooks them because he cannot afford to break off his relations with them. Along with tazkiya, dawah, or conveying the message of God to people, is an equally important goal for the believer. And if a believer is sincere it is not possible for him either to give up his efforts to attain tazkiya or to give up his dawah activities.