Question: Honorable Shaykh, this person asks: Is i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) specific to the mosque? And is it permissible for me to perform i'tikaf, for example, in my room on the second floor for prayer, supplication, and frequent seeking of forgiveness, or is this only in the mosque? Answer: I'tikaf is in the mosques. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) said: وَلَا تُبَاشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمْ عَاكِفُونَ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ And do not have relations with them as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques [Al-Baqarah 2:187] Therefore, i'tikaf is not valid except in a mosque, so that one does not leave the mosque for the sake of i'tikaf, thereby abandoning congregational prayer and going to the mosque. He performs i'tikaf in the mosque. Yes.

The Place of I'tikaf

Shaykh Salih ibn Fawzan al-Fawzan

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Question:
Honorable Shaykh, this person asks: Is i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) specific to the mosque? And is it permissible for me to perform i'tikaf, for example, in my room on the second floor for prayer, supplication, and frequent seeking of forgiveness, or is this only in the mosque?

Answer:
I'tikaf is in the mosques. Allah (Exalted and Majestic is He) said:

And do not have relations with them as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques

وَلَا تُبَاشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمْ عَاكِفُونَ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ

[Al-Baqarah 2:187]

Therefore, i'tikaf is not valid except in a mosque, so that one does not leave the mosque for the sake of i'tikaf, thereby abandoning congregational prayer and going to the mosque. He performs i'tikaf in the mosque. Yes.

Source قناة «إذاعة القرآن الكريم»، نور على الدرب مع فضيلة الشيخ صالح الفوزان ح7477 — youtube.com (12:03)

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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