The Fourth Hurdle

1. Knowledge

2. Tawba

3. Dunya

Once we learn to overcome these desires, we stumble onto the next hurdle:

Other people.

The Sunnah places great emphasis on community and on being there for each other.

But Ghazali advises us to choose solitude over others.

In a recent study, researchers tracked 178 adults aged 35 and older in the UK and US for up to 21 days.

The team recorded time spent alone versus interacting with others using daily diaries.

Participants also reported daily measures of stress, life satisfaction, autonomy, and loneliness.

Spending more hours alone was linked with increased feelings of reduced stress, suggesting solitude's calming effects.

A day with more solitude is also related to feeling free to choose and be oneself.

Time alone can leave us less stressed and free to be ourselves.

Taking this path of solitude is challenging, especially in a time when everyone is connected to everyone else.

We participate in everyone else's business, sharing their joys and sorrows.

Given this, it becomes all the more significant when we become influenced by them, consciously or subconsciously, and it then becomes hard to stick to our path.

In such times, we need solitude.

But there are exceptions.

If you're surrounded by good-hearted and righteous people who influence you positively and propel you towards good, then this rule wouldn't apply.

Ultimately, our choices should be guided by what brings us closer to Allah, not by what people might think.

May Allah bless our journey, make our path easier, and guide us to His love.