Umdat at-Talib - Al-Buhuti - (1/111)

Chapter
(Iʿtikāf — Seclusion in the Mosque)

(1)
Iʿtikāf is a recommended practice at any time, and it is more emphatically recommended in Ramadan, particularly during its last ten nights. It remains valid without fasting, but not without an intention, and it becomes obligatory once vowed. Iʿtikāf is only valid in a mosque, and for anyone obliged to attend congregational prayer it is valid only in a mosque where the congregation is held.

The most virtuous mosques are: the Sacred Mosque, then the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, then al-Aqsa. If one specifies any of these three, a lesser mosque will not suffice, and the opposite holds true in reverse. If he designates a mosque other than these three, the designation is not binding. Whoever vows to observe iʿtikāf for a fixed period should enter his place of retreat shortly before it begins and leave only after it ends.

An observant of iʿtikāf must not leave except for an unavoidable necessity (2); he neither visits the sick nor attends a funeral unless he had stipulated that condition.

Iʿtikāf is nullified by sexual intercourse, intoxication (3), or exiting the mosque without need.

It is recommended that he occupy himself with acts of devotion and avoid anything that does not concern him.

(1) Linguistically, *i'tikaf* (ritual seclusion) means remaining with something. Technically, it is the stay of a Muslim—free from major ritual impurity—of sound mind, even if only discerning, in a mosque, even for a short time, in obedience to Allah. (2) The word "lahu" is absent from manuscript J. (3) Manuscript B reads "wa-muskir" ("and an intoxicant").

باب [الإعتكاف] (١) الإعتكافُ مسنونٌ كُلَّ وقتٍ، وفي رمضان آكدُ خصوصًا عَشْرَهُ الأخيرَ، ويصحُّ بلا صومٍ، لا بِلا نيَّةٍ، ويلزمُ بنذرٍ، ولا يصحُّ إلا في مسجدٍ، ولا ممَّن تلزمهُ الجماعةُ إلا حيثُ تُقامُ. وأفضلُ المساجد: الحرامُ، فمسجدُ المدينة، فالأقصى، فإنْ عيَّن أحدَها لم يُجْزِ مَا دُونه، وعَكْسُه بِعَكْسِه، وإنْ عيَّن مسجدًا غير الثلاثة لم يَتعيَّن، ومَنْ نَذَرَ زمنًا معينًا دخل مُعْتَكَفَه قَبْلَه بيسيرٍ، وخرج بعد آخِرِه. ولا يخرج مُعتكفٌ إلا لما لا بدَّ له (٢) منه، ولا يَعودُ مريضًا، ولا يَشهد جنازةً إلا أن يَشترطه. ويفسدُ اعتكافٌ بِوطء في فرجٍ، وسُكْرٍ (٣) ، وخروجٍ بلا حاجةٍ. ويُسنُّ اشتغاله بالقُرَب واجتنابُ ما لا يَعنيه. * * *

(١) الإعتكاف لغة: لزوم الشيء. واصطلاحًا: لزومُ مسلمٍ -لا غُسل عليه- عاقل ولو مميزًا مسجدًا ولو ساعة لطاعة الله تعالى. (٢) "له" ليس في (ج). (٣) في (ب): "ومسكر".