MAS’AIL E ITEEKAF

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ. الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ خَاتَمِ النَّبِيِّينَ وَعَلَى جَمِيعِ الأَنْبِيَاءِ وَالْمُرْسَلِينَ.

All Praise is due to Allah, we praise Him and we seek help from Him. We ask forgiveness from Him. We repent to Him; and we seek refuge in Him from our own evils and our own bad deeds. Anyone who is guided by Allah, he is indeed guided; and anyone who has been left astray, will find no one to guide him. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the Only One without any partner; and I bear witness that Muhammad, peace and blessings on him, is His servant, and His messenger.

Dear Brothers and Sisters …

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Surah Baqra = 2:125. And ˹remember˺ when We made the Sacred House a centre and a sanctuary for the people ˹saying˺, “˹You may˺ take the standing-place of Abraham as a site of prayer.” And We entrusted Abraham and Ishmael to purify My House for those who circle it, who meditate in it, and who bow and prostrate themselves ˹in prayer.

Surah Baqra 2:187. It has been made permissible for you to be intimate with your wives during the nights preceding the fast. Your spouses are a garment for you as you are for them. Allah knows that you were deceiving yourselves. So, he has accepted your repentance and pardoned you. So now you may be intimate with them and seek what Allah has prescribed for you. ˹You may˺ eat and drink until you see the light of dawn breaking the darkness of night, then complete the fast until nightfall. Do not be intimate with your spouses while you are meditating in the mosques. These are the limits set by Allah, so do not exceed them. This is how Allah makes His revelations clear to people, so they may become mindful ˹of Him.

ITEEKAF HOW MANY DAYS 30,20 OR 10 DAYS AND 1 DAY

Hadith 1.

‘A’isha said that the Prophet used to engage in private devotions in the mosque during the last ten nights of Ramadan till God took him, and then his wives followed this practice after his death. *Mirqat says that the Prophet’s wives observed periods of seclusion for devotion, not in the mosque but in their houses. (Bukhari and Muslim.) Mishkat al-Masabih 2097. https://sunnah.com/mishkat:2097

Hadith 2

Abu Huraira said that the Qur’an was gone over* to the Prophet once annually, but that this was done twice in the year in which he died. He used to engage in private devotions in the mosque during ten nights every year, but he did this during twenty nights in the year in which he died. *Mirqat remarks that some commentators say the passive is used here because the person who went over the Quran to the Prophet was well-known, meaning Gabriel. Bukhari transmitted it. Mishkat al-Masabih 2099.

https://sunnah.com/mishkat:2099

Hadith 3

Anas said that the Prophet was accustomed to engaging in private devotion in the mosque during the last ten nights of Ramadan; but one year he omitted it and he engaged in it during twenty nights the next year. Mishkat al-Masabih 2102, 2103.

https://sunnah.com/mishkat:2102

Reason Rasool Allah saw Omitted the Iteekaf

Hadith 4.

Narrated `Amra: Aisha said, “the Prophet (ﷺ) used to practice I`tikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan and I used to pitch a tent for him, and after offering the morning prayer, he used to enter the tent.” Hafsa asked the permission of `Aisha to pitch a tent for her and she allowed her and she pitched her tent. When Zainab bint Jahsh saw it, she pitched another tent. In the morning the Prophet (ﷺ) noticed the tents. He said, ‘What is this?” He was told of the whole situation. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Do you think that they intended to do righteousness by doing this?” He therefore abandoned the I`tikaf in that month and practiced I`tikaf for ten days in the month of Shawwal.” Sahih al-Bukhari 2033

https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2033.

One Day Iteekaf

Hadith 5.

Ibn ‘Umar said that when ‘Umar consulted the Prophet about a vow he had made in the pre-Islamic period to spend a night in devotion in the sacred mosque, he said, “Fulfill your vow.” (Bukhari and Muslim.) Mishkat al-Masabih 2101

https://sunnah.com/mishkat:2101

WHAT TIME TO ENTER FOR ITEEKAF ON 20 RAMADAN

Hadith 6.

Sunnah is After Fajar.” Sahih al-Bukhari 2033 https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2033

 

What you can do during Iteekaf

What is allowed during Iteekaf?

Going for Friday Prayers – Visiting the ill – Attend the funeral – Visit family for his need. (Musanaf Ibne Sheeba 9841)

Hadith 7.

‘A’isha said, “During his private devotional exercises God’s messenger would put his head near me when he was in the mosque, and I would comb it while I was menstruating and he entered the house only to relieve himself.” (Bukhari and Muslim.) Mishkat al 2100

https://sunnah.com/mishkat:2100

Very Famous Hadith regarding Safiya the Wife of Prophet Saw

Hadith 8.

Narrated `Ali bin Al-Husain: Safiya, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ) told me that she went to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) to visit him in the mosque while he was in I`tikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan. She had a talk with him for a while, then she got up in order to return home. The Prophet (ﷺ) accompanied her. When they reached the gate of the mosque, opposite the door of Um-Salama, two Ansari men were passing by and they greeted Allah’s Apostle . He told them: Do not run away! And said, “She is (my wife) Safiya bint Huyai.” Both of them said, “Subhan Allah, (How dare we think of any evil) O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)!” And they felt it. The Prophet said (to them), “Satan reaches everywhere in the human body as blood reaches in it, (everywhere in one’s body). I was afraid lest Satan might insert an evil thought in your minds.” Sahih al-Bukhari 2035

https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2035

Hadith 9.

Ibn ‘Umar said that when the Prophet observed a period of private devotion in the mosque his bedding was placed for him, or a couch was put down for him, behind the column of repentance. * *A column in the Prophet’s mosque in Medina, said to have got this name because the repentance of Abu Lubaba was accepted beside it. Ibn Majah transmitted it. Mishkat al-Masabih 2107. https://sunnah.com/mishkat:2107

(Story of Stoon E Toobah – when one sahabi Tie himself with stoon for his forgiveness).

 

Masala Regarding Women Iteekaf ( Seclusion in the Masjed)

It is Proven from Quran & Hadith that Iteekaf is only in Masjid for Men or Women

“With regard to women, the majority of scholars are of the view that as in the case of men, their i’tikaf is not valid unless it is observed in the mosque, because of the verse quoted Surah Baqra 2-187.

“Do not be intimate with your spouses while you are meditating in the mosques”.

Also, it is evident from hadith that the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) asked him for permission to observe i’tikaf in the mosque and he gave them permission, and they used to observe i’tikaf in the mosque after he died.

Women are allowed to do Iteekaf in the Masjid, but there should be proper arrangements for them. And If a husband wife is doing the Iteekaf at the same Masjid they are allowed to see each other without being intimate as mentioned (Baqra 2-187) – Hadith 7 & 8.

Regarding observing iteekaf for women in the house, if it were permissible for a woman to observe Iteekaf in her house, the Prophet (ﷺ) would have told them to do that.

This is also help us to understand the following hadith which used to stop women for prayer and iteekaf in the mosque and also ignoring the other hadiths of Prophet (ﷺ) where he (ﷺ) said “do not stop women to go to mosque”.

Hadith 10.

‘Amra, daughter of Abd al-Rahmin, reported: I heard ‘A’isha, the wife of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). say: If the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) had seen what new things the women have introduced (in their way of life) he would have definitely prevented them from going to the mosque, as the women of BaniIsra’il were prevented. Sahih Muslim 445a. https://sunnah.com/muslim:445a

I would like to inform you that Rasool Allah’s (ﷺ) Practice is the best way of a successful life and hereafter, this religion was completed Allah Almighty for humanity knowing the future, it is guidance for all mankind till the last day: until Qayammah.

There are two perceptions from the above hadith.

First:      Warning to Women regarding their innovation, dressing and modesty.

Second: Questioning the Knowledge of Rasool Allah (ﷺ) regarding the future situations i.e., women’s modesty.

Now, we must decide, if we consider the first option are we saying we are so immodest now that we cannot dress well enough to go to the masjid?

“Every MUSLIM WOMEN’S MODESTY IS A KEY TO JANNAH AND ACCEPTANCE OF THEIR PRYAERS”

The message in the hadith is mainly to warn women about their dressing modestly. And to attend the Masjid where the opportunity is provided to them rather than give this Hadith as an excuse for not attending the Masjed or for Itkeekaf.

Here, we must also think about why we do not apply the same rule in Masjid Haram & Nabawi. Simply because there is no excuse for women to not attend the masjid.

I conclude with this and send prayers of blessings and peace upon our Prophet as your Lord commanded:

Allahumma Sallai Al’a Muahmmad’n wa’aila Muhammad

Please fee free to ask any question on 07414885653 or Email : info@irlammosque.org

By Imam Mahboob Rasool