I Will Separate Myself From You

And then Ibrāhīm told his father — after he told him, I will ask Allah to forgive you — he said: wa aʿtazilukum wa mā tadʿūna min dūni Allāh, wa adʿū rabbī ʿasā allā akūna bi-duʿāʾi rabbī shaqiyyā — and I shall turn away from you, and from those whom you invoke besides Allah. Wa aʿtazilukum: aʿtazilukum means I will disassociate myself from you. I will separate myself from you. I will be in seclusion from you.

A very important principle for your survival as a Muslim: you have to have what is called ʿuzlah shuʿūriyyah, psychological separation from the environment of kufr that is around you. Ibrāhīm (peace be upon him), immediately when his father chose kufr, Ibrāhīm said that I will disassociate myself from you — the society of the non-believers. Wa aʿtazilukum: I will be separated from you.

We as Muslims have an identity that we have to protect. And we cannot blend in with the society, and be a sheep among the sheep, and follow the stream, and follow whatever everybody else is doing, and follow the crowd. We have an identity that we need to preserve, and we need to be separate and different.

But that doesn't mean that we have to separate ourselves physically from the society, and live in monasteries, and on top of mountains, or in the forests, or in the deserts. No — we could be part of the society, and be within the society, intermingling with the society, but in our hearts we are separate. So physically we are participating — in active participation with the society — but in our hearts we have this psychological barrier and separation, where we always are carrying with us the understanding that we have an identity of being a Muslim.

So if you are able to be part of the society, but preserving your Muslim identity, that is better than separating yourself physically from it. Because then you can be an agent of change, and affecting others, and daʿwah. But when you are secluded and alone, then you are only benefiting yourself, and nobody is benefiting from the good that you have.