Rahbaniyat

Monasticism; world-renouncing asceticism which Islam discourages and which Iqbal condemns as flight from life.

Literally: monasticism; world-renouncing asceticism

Monastic, world-renouncing asceticism — withdrawal from society, marriage and worldly engagement for the sake of devotion. The Quran and Hadith note that monasticism was "not prescribed" for the Muslim community ("no rahbaniyya in Islam"). Iqbal made this a recurring target: he condemned escapist, life-denying mysticism that hides in cell or shrine, contrasting it with an engaged, world-affirming faith and the active poverty of true faqr.