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If one stipulates in his vow that the iʿtikāf be performed in the Sacred Mosque, that designation becomes binding. Should he designate any other mosque, performing the retreat there fulfils the vow, and any mosque of higher merit covers a vow made for a mosque of lesser merit.
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Iʿtikāf is rendered obligatory through a vow and must therefore be carried out.
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The narration has come in three forms: a vow of “one night,” a vow of “one day,” and an unrestricted vow. Those who rely on the wording “one night” hold that iʿtikāf is valid without fasting. Those who understand the “night” or the “day” to include the full 24-hour period require fasting during the retreat. These are the two principal scholarly views, and the safer course is to combine the iʿtikāf with fasting.
Hadith 4
Safiyyah bint Huyayy (may Allah be pleased with her) reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was observing iʿtikāf in the mosque, so I went to visit him at night and spoke with him. When I rose to leave, he stood up with me to escort me home—my residence at the time was in the house of Usamah ibn Zayd. Two men from the Ansar passed by; when they saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, they quickened their pace. He said, ‘Take it easy; she is Safiyyah bint Huyayy.’ They exclaimed, ‘Glory be to Allah, O Messenger of Allah!’ He replied, ‘Satan flows through the son of Adam as blood flows, and I feared he might cast some evil (or: some thought) into your hearts.’
In another version: She came to visit him during his iʿtikāf in the mosque in the last ten nights of Ramadan, spoke with him for a while, and then got up to leave. The Prophet ﷺ rose with her to escort her, and when they reached the gate of the mosque by the door of Umm Salamah …”—and he narrated the remainder in the same sense.
Unfamiliar terms
Huyayy: with a ḍamma on the ḥāʾ; he was the Jewish leader of Banū an-Naḍīr and was executed along with Banū Qurayḍah.
li-yaqlibanī: with fatḥah on the yāʾ and sukūn on the qāf; meaning, to accompany me and see me back to my house.
“in the house of Usamah”: the dwelling was ascribed to Usamah ibn Zayd because it later came into his possession.
‘alā rislikumā: with a kasrah on the rāʾ; that is, “take your time,” i.e., do not hurry.
They said, “Subḥān Allah”: the tasbīḥ here is an expression of astonishment.
Overall meaning
The Prophet ﷺ was in iʿtikāf during the last ten nights of Ramadan. In his retreat he kept apart from people except for what benefitted them. Accordingly, his wife Safiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) visited him one night and conversed with him for an hour, after which she rose to return to her house. Because of the noble character, great kindness, and tenderness of heart with which Allah had endowed him, he stood up