“…while you are in seclusion in the mosques” (Q 2:187)—so that a person’s iʿtikāf will not cause him to miss the congregational prayer, nor oblige him to keep leaving his place of retreat to attend it repeatedly, for that would run counter to the very essence of iʿtikāf.

6. The Prophet’s actions—peace and blessings be upon him—are divided into five categories:

First: Deeds arising from ordinary human needs, such as sleeping, eating, and drinking. By themselves they carry no specific legal ruling; they become religiously significant only when the doer intends them as means to gain strength for obeying Allah, or performs them in a prescribed manner—sleeping on the right side, eating with the right hand—seeking reward from Allah.

Second: Practices he observed as custom, not worship—wearing a turban, a waist-wrap, a cloak, or adopting a particular style of food, and the like. Following him here means dressing as one’s own people and countrymen dress; true emulation is not to insist on wearing precisely what the Prophet wore. The point is simply to avoid contravening the general norm, not to cling to that specific form.

Third: Acts he performed explicitly as worship. Whenever it is clear that an action was intended as devotion, it is recommended for us to follow him in it, for the Prophet’s unqualified actions do not of themselves establish obligation, according to the sounder opinion.

Fourth: Acts that lie somewhere between worship and custom, such as raking the pebbles after the days of Mina, the manner in which he entered Mecca, or the mosque. Some scholars regard these as devotional, while others see them as matters of ease and convenience along his route.

Fifth: Acts he performed to clarify a concise ruling, as in Allah’s command, “So establish prayer and give zakah” (Q 2:43). About this he said: “Pray as you have seen me pray” (reported by al-Bukhari).