Perhaps because of its unreformed origins in an archaic era — archaic in the chronological sense — Islam has historically had little place for hermits, even in advanced Sufi thought. Thus Khwaja Hafiz, speaking of the unity of God, reproves the hermit: “Speak to the recluse in his solitude and say: ‘There is no real difference between the Kaaba and the idolhouse. Wherever you may look, there equally is HE.'”
This, too, is the argument of most of Christianity and of seculars. They reject eremitism as an egoism that scorns the community of charity and good works, and is therefore a false perception of reality. Eremitism does reject “society” as a contrivance of human imposition, while at the same time confirming that, yes, God is present everywhere. The hermit might well argue, however, that God is not present in the affairs of men. God is equally in the Kaaba and the idolhouse, and is equally not in the Kaaba and the idolhouse. God is present in the heart, mind, and soul, and that is precisely why God is best found in solitude, which all mystics and Sufis acknowledge.
journal of reflections by the resident of the Hermitary