I'tikaf

The purpose of i'tikaf is to reduce one's dealings with the world to a minimum so that a person is left alone with themselves; to reflect on the purpose of their creation and the duties they carry; to keep vigil on the Night of Decree; and, through greater worship and supplication, to hope for forgiveness and draw nearer to God.

In Islamic literature, i'tikaf means “to withdraw into seclusion in a mosque, intending to seek the pleasure of God, and observing certain rules.” The hadith sources relate that after the migration to Medina the Prophet ﷺ withdrew into i'tikaf during the last ten days of every Ramadan, and that his wives generally observed i'tikaf with him. (Muslim, “I'tikāf”, 3; Tirmidhī, “Ṣawm”, 80)

According to ʿĀ'isha (may God be pleased with her), when the last ten days of Ramadan began the Messenger of God ﷺ would keep vigil at night, wake his family for worship, devote himself to worship more intensely than at any other time, and recommend the same to the Muslims. (Muslim, “I'tikāf”, 7)

As a form of worship, i'tikaf has been known since the time of Abraham (2/al-Baqarah, 125). Confirmed by the Qur'an, it occupies an important place in the life of the Prophet ﷺ, who is known to have observed it every year in Medina except for one. (Tirmidhī, “Ṣawm”, 79)

Known even to pre-Islamic Meccan society, i'tikaf acquired the character of a sunnah through the Prophet's practice ﷺ. He would enter i'tikaf in the Prophet's Mosque — most often during the last ten days of Ramadan — spending every hour of the day there. A tent was pitched for him inside the mosque for this purpose, and he is known not to have left except for necessities. (Muslim, “I'tikāf”, 79; Tirmidhī, “Ṣawm”, 1-6; Abū Dāwūd, “Ṣawm”, 77-78)

Entering i'tikaf is a more effective way of guarding the self against what is forbidden, and it increases both the opportunity and the hope of keeping vigil on the Night of Decree, expected within the last ten days of Ramadan. For the Muslim who cannot find time for themselves amid the density of modern life, i'tikaf is a rare opening: a way to take account of the year gone by, to plan the future more fruitfully, and to draw more deeply on the spiritual climate of Ramadan.

I'tikaf is a legitimate act of worship. Its legitimacy is established by both the Book and the Sunnah.

In the Qur'an, the verse above directly acknowledges the practice of i'tikaf.

The Messenger of God ﷺ would enter i'tikaf during the last ten days of Ramadan. One year he was unable to (because he was travelling), so the following year he observed i'tikaf for twenty days.

Anas b. Mālik and Ubayy b. Kaʿb — Abū Dāwūd, Ṣawm, 77; Tirmidhī, Ṣawm, 79

Anas b. Mālik had the honour of serving the Prophet ﷺ for ten years throughout his life in Medina and is among the most prolific narrators of hadith. Ubayy b. Kaʿb was among the finest reciters of the Qur'an of the Companions.

Like other acts of worship, i'tikaf has a number of conditions:

1. Intention. As intention is a condition in other acts of worship, so it is in i'tikaf. Simply waiting in a mosque without intention does not count as i'tikaf.
2. For men, that the i'tikaf be in a mosque where the five daily prayers are held in congregation. The most meritorious i'tikaf is in the Sacred Mosque, then the Prophet's Mosque, then al-Aqsā Mosque. The merit of other mosques varies with the size of the congregation.
3. Fasting. This is a condition for obligatory i'tikaf.
4. For women, being free of menstruation and post-natal bleeding. Since a state of major impurity does not prevent fasting, ritual purity is not a condition even in obligatory i'tikaf. Therefore, if one in i'tikaf has a nocturnal emission inside the mosque, the i'tikaf is not invalidated.

In its shortest form, this intention is sufficient:

نَوَيْتُ الِاعْتِكَافَ لِلَّهِ تَعَالَى

“Nawaytu'l-i'tikāfa lillāhi taʿālā” — I have intended i'tikaf for the sake of God Almighty.

The fuller intention

نَوَيْتُ سُنَّةَ الِاعْتِكَافِ فِي هَذَا الْمَسْجِدِ إِلَى آخِرِ رَمَضَانَ

“Nawaytu sunnata'l-i'tikāfi fī hādhā'l-masjidi ilā ākhiri Ramaḍān”

Alongside the intention to fulfil the Prophet's sunnah of Ramadan i'tikaf, one also intends:

• To guard strictly and carefully against every kind of forbidden thing and sin;
• To struggle against the tyrannical self and work to reform it;
• To cast off bad traits, acquire good ones, and set my character right;
• To spend my hours in worship as far as I am able;
• To avoid, as far as possible, idle talk with anyone;
• To remain in a state of ablution at all times, and to sleep in that state;
• To pray two units of renewal-of-ablution prayer after each ablution;
• To pray the ishrāq, ḍuḥā, awwābīn and tahajjud prayers;
• To occupy myself abundantly with remembrance of God;
• To recite the Qur'an abundantly;
• To pray much good for the community of Muhammad ﷺ;
• To sleep a little after ʿishā', a little after ishrāq, and a little in the afternoon before ʿaṣr, so as to gather strength for alert and conscious worship in the remaining hours;
• Not to interfere with anyone, to keep to my own business, and to strive to perform my worship faultlessly;
• To show patience and forbearance even when I meet things and situations I dislike;
• To interpret everything for the best, to be forbearing with everyone, and to take a lesson from every event;
• To remain always in contemplation, and to take and give each breath as consciously as possible;
• To recall my sins often and repent to God abundantly, with tears.

“…I have intended to strive as far as I am able; grant us Your enabling grace as our companion, O Lord!”

The person in i'tikaf gathers their mind and devotes themselves intensively to the worship of God.

• Recites the Qur'an.
• Occupies themselves with remembrance and supplication.
• Prays voluntary prayers such as tahajjud, ishrāq, ḍuḥā and awwābīn.
• Reads hadith; learns knowledge and teaches it.
• Reads the life and character of the Prophet ﷺ and of the prophets before him.
• Takes care not to sin, not to waste time, and not to squander the hours.

Yes. Women observe i'tikaf in their homes. They set aside a room of the house as a place of prayer, saying “Let this be my mosque,” and observe i'tikaf there. By fulfilling the conditions of i'tikaf and performing their worship there, they too receive its reward.

The hadith sources relate that the wives of the Prophet ﷺ generally observed i'tikaf alongside him.