ABSTRACT
As a follow up from Chapter 2, this chapter examines ‘conduct’ versus ‘attitude’ in relation to both Christian monasticism (rahbāniyya) and current ascetical trends. Associated with a Qurʾānic verse (Q.<th>57:27), hermeneutical narratives relating to the origins of monasticism in the true teaching of Jesus and culminating in a critique of the subsequent deviation from it are examined. In this context, it is shown how the ninth-century al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī used such narratives to draw parallels between two contemporary ascetical models: a genuine commendable asceticism, which is inward and hidden, versus a false one, which is extroverted, conspicuous and conceited.
