What is the ruling on i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) at shrines?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This person is asking about the ruling on those who perform i'tikaf at a grave, at the grave of a righteous man.
Answer:
This is a practice of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah). The people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance would prostrate before their idols, as Allah mentioned regarding the Children of Israel:[Al-A'raf 7:138] Performing i'tikaf at graves is like performing i'tikaf at idols; it is worship of other than Allah (Mighty and Majestic). I'tikaf is only to be done in the mosques, in the houses of Allah. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Baqarah 2:187] The i'tikaf of Muslims is in the mosques, in the houses of Allah; it is not to be done at graves. This is polytheism, and may Allah protect us from it.
This person is asking about the ruling on those who perform i'tikaf at a grave, at the grave of a righteous man.
Answer:
This is a practice of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah). The people of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance would prostrate before their idols, as Allah mentioned regarding the Children of Israel:
And We took the Children of Israel across the sea; then they came upon a people intent in devotion to [some] idols of theirs.
وَجَاوَزْنَا بِبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ الْبَحْرَ فَأَتَوْا عَلَىٰ قَوْمٍ يَعْكُفُونَ عَلَىٰ أَصْنَامٍ لَّهُمْas long as you are staying for worship in the mosques
وَأَنتُمْ عَاكِفُونَ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم الاعتكاف عند الأضرحة؟ للشيخ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.