What is the ruling on reserving spaces for those in i'tikaf?
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Question:
The questioner says: What is Your Eminence's opinion regarding one who reserves a space for people in i'tikaf who are not present, who will come in the last ten days, and if a person comes, he prevents him from taking that space?
Answer:
It is not permissible to reserve spaces except for the one who has come, except for the one who has come to the mosque. As for the one who is outside the mosque and has not come, except after a period, he has not come except after a period, so it is not permissible to reserve the space and drive people away from it if he arrives. If this person arrives, he will find a space in the mosque.
Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) says:[Al-Hajj 22:25] Therefore, no place is reserved except for one who is present. As for the one who is not present, no place is reserved for him; when he arrives, a place will be found for him, if Allah wills. Yes.
The questioner says: What is Your Eminence's opinion regarding one who reserves a space for people in i'tikaf who are not present, who will come in the last ten days, and if a person comes, he prevents him from taking that space?
Answer:
It is not permissible to reserve spaces except for the one who has come, except for the one who has come to the mosque. As for the one who is outside the mosque and has not come, except after a period, he has not come except after a period, so it is not permissible to reserve the space and drive people away from it if he arrives. If this person arrives, he will find a space in the mosque.
Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) says:
and [from] al-Masjid al-Haram, which We made for the people - equal are the resident therein and one from outside; and [also] whoever intends [a deed] therein of deviation [in religion] or wrongdoing - We will make him taste of a painful punishment.
وَالْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ الَّذِي جَعَلْنَاهُ لِلنَّاسِ سَوَاءً الْعَاكِفُ فِيهِ وَالْبَادِ وَمَن يُرِدْ فِيهِ بِإِلْحَادٍ بِظُلْمٍ نُّذِقْهُ مِنْ عَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما حكم حجز أماكن للمعتكفين؟ للشيخ الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.