َ ثُمَّ قَفَّيْنَا عَلَى آثَارِهِمْ بِرُسُلِنَا وَقَفَّيْنَا بِعِيسَى ابْنِ مَرْيَمَ وَآتَيْنَاهُ الْإِنْجِيلَ وَجَعَلْنَا فِي قُلُوبِ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُ رَأْفَةً وَرَحْمَةً وَرَهْبَانِيَّةً ابْتَدَعُوهَا مَا كَتَبْنَاهَا عَلَيْهِمْ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ رِضْوَانِ اللَّهِ فَمَا رَعَوْهَا حَقَّ رِعَايَتِهَا فَآتَيْنَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْهُمْ أَجْرَهُمْ وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ ﴿۲۷﴾

﴾27﴿ Summa qaffainaa 'alaa aasaarihim bi Rusulinaa wa qaffainaa bi 'Eesab ni Maryama wa aatainaahul Injeela wa ja'alnaa fee quloobil lazeenat taba'oohu ra'fatanw wa rahmatanw wa rahbaaniyyatan ibtada'ooha maa katabnaahaa 'alaihim illab tighaaa'a ridwaanil laahi famaa ra'awhaa haqqa ri'aayatihaa; fa aatainal lazeena aamanoo minhum ajrahum; wa kaseerum minhum faasiqoon

﴾27﴿ Then, We sent Our messengers in succession after them, and after them, We sent Jesus, son of Mary, and gave him the Gospel. And We placed compassion and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him. But monasticism—they innovated it; We did not prescribe it for them except to seek the pleasure of Allah. Yet, they did not observe it as it should have been observed. So, We gave those among them who believed their reward, but many of them were disobedient.

[27] This verse relates to the earlier details. (“Upon their footsteps”) refers to the fact that all the prophets followed the same religion and called towards it. The last of them (before our Prophet) was Jesus (peace be upon him), who was also from the descendants of Abraham (peace be upon him) through his mother. He is specifically mentioned here because he endured much hardship in his call and striving for the religion.
“And We placed in the hearts of those who followed him compassion, mercy, and monasticism.” This refers to three groups among the Christians. According to narration, certain kings were appointed over them who distorted their religion. In response, one group took up armed struggle until they were martyred. The second group focused solely on preaching and calling others; they were sawed with saws and burned in fire. The third group retreated to mountains and caves to protect their religion and worship Allah. Ibn Kathir said that although this hadith is weak due to Dawud ibn al-Muhabbar (who is a fabricator), it is strengthened by other chains reported by Abu Ya‘la.
Thus, “compassion” refers to the first group (those who fought), “mercy” to the second group (those who preached), and “monasticism” to the third group.
“Monasticism which they invented” has two interpretations. First, if monasticism was permissible in their religion, then what is meant by “invented” is that they changed its form, method, and purpose — this is called innovative addition. The second interpretation is that monasticism was prohibited from the start, so “invention” here refers to real innovation.
“But they did not observe it properly.” The pronoun refers back to monasticism, meaning they failed to attain the pleasure of Allah through it, did not uphold it, and instead made it a means to gain worldly benefits, so that people would follow them, bring them gifts, and they would not speak the truth to them, rather they kept them as followers and slaves.
Another interpretation is that the exception is disconnected, based on the second explanation — that monasticism was not allowed from the beginning. The meaning becomes: We had not permitted monasticism for them, but rather We had obligated them to attain the pleasure of Allah through jihad and da‘wah.
“But they did not observe it” — the pronoun refers to divine pleasure, interpreted as a trait.
Note: In the investigation of monasticism – in language, monasticism means to fear, as in the phrase “And draw your wing to yourself out of fear”, and in the terminology of the Qur’an, it means fearing Allah and, due to fear of Allah, refraining from prohibitions, as in the verse “And fear only Me.”
In common usage, it means fearing Allah and, to protect one’s religion, going to a cave or desert, refraining from lawful pleasures, and devoting oneself to the worship of Allah. There are two conditions in this context: one is due to religious necessity, where seclusion is chosen, such as when trials become numerous, and calling or struggling for the faith becomes impossible, and one fears for their religion. In such a time, to distance oneself from people and go to the desert or cave is called “fleeing for the faith” or “migration,” like the incident of the People of the Cave. Similarly, in the hadith of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and give him peace) said that a time will come when the best property of a Muslim will be sheep and goats, which he will take to the tops of mountains and places of rainfall, fleeing with his religion from tribulations (Bukhari).
However, applying the term “monasticism” to this is either linguistic or metaphorical, and it is not called monasticism in the Shariah. Similarly, the Prophet’s (May Allah bless him and give him peace) going to the Cave of Hira before the beginning of the Qur’an and prophethood is not called monasticism in Shariah.
The second condition is separating from people and worshipping without religious necessity, and imposing burdens and ascetic practices on oneself – this is strictly prohibited in our Shariah, as mentioned in the hadith from Musnad Ahmad that the Messenger of Allah (May Allah bless him and give him peace) said, “Every nation has its monasticism, and the monasticism of my nation is striving in the path of Allah.” This hadith is mentioned by Ibn Kathir. Regarding the Shariah of Jesus (peace be upon him), there is disagreement: one view is that it was permissible in their law.
So in this verse, the criticism of the Christians is due to their added innovation, meaning they changed the forms, methods, and purpose of monasticism. The second view is that monasticism was also prohibited in their religion, like it is in ours. Ibn Kathir said that this verse criticizes them on two grounds: first, that they innovated in the religion of Allah what He did not command; second, that what they assumed would bring them closer to Allah, they did not uphold or observe it.
The third proof is that Qasimi narrated from the Christians from the book Raihanat al-Nufus that monasticism is not in the Holy Book, nor is it a legal command – rather, later people invented it based on their delusions (this is the summary of their content).
In recent understanding, monasticism is where one separates from people, forbids marriage upon themselves, prohibits lawful delights, even abandons congregational prayer, does not perform ritual bathing, and some do not even circumcise. They occupy themselves with singing and chanting, claiming it nourishes the soul, they dance, and so on. This form of monasticism is strictly prohibited in every religion.
However, Christian monks, as well as some Sufis and elders of this Ummah, established this method, and through it, they gain worldly benefits from people. This is what the Qur’an describes: “Indeed, many of the rabbis and monks consume the wealth of people unjustly and hinder [them] from the way of Allah” (Surah Tawbah 34). And a rebuttal is also found in Surah Ma’idah (87).