The problem of seclusion in the classical Islamic thought is simultaneously religious, ethical, political, and a metaphysical one. The issue of withdrawal from the community is closely related to the matter of happiness. Is loneliness the way to contentment or only life in society can lead a man to happiness? This paper outlines the most important positions within the classical Islamic thought on the phenomenon ofseclusion. Thus, Al-Fārābī, following Plato and Aristotle, emphasizes that

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... s is achievable only in the political community. Ibn Haldūn holds an analogous opinion, seeing sociality as essential and economically indispensable. Tasawuf, both as experience and as a concept, give to the concealment and isolation a primal significance: the seeker for God's love must abandon everything to approach the Supreme God, who is, in His absolute transcendence, also alone. Andalusian thinkers Ibn Bādždža andIbn Ṭufayl take a middle position: man is a social being, but he is unhappy in society, society corrupts him, and therefore he strives for solitude that provides him with peace, cognition, and faith.