The Meaning of the Hadith of Hudhayfah: There Is No I'tikaf (Spiritual Retreat) Except in the Three Mosques
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the meaning of the hadith of Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him)Sunan Abi Dawud 2473Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani) and is it authentic?
Answer:
As for its authenticity, I do not know. But if it is authentic, its meaning is that there is no i'tikaf that is better or greater. Its meaning is the negation of the original ruling, and it is only a negation of superiority. The scholars, nearly all of them or by consensus, agree on the permissibility of i'tikaf in the mosques, despite the generality of the verse, which is His saying, the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:187] This is general. The one who says that i'tikaf is not prescribed except in the three mosques is being overly restrictive and has forbidden people from a great act of worship, and that is not permissible for him.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, what is the meaning of the hadith of Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him)
there is no i'tikaf except in a congregational mosque.
لا اعتكاف إلا في المساجد الثلاثةAnswer:
As for its authenticity, I do not know. But if it is authentic, its meaning is that there is no i'tikaf that is better or greater. Its meaning is the negation of the original ruling, and it is only a negation of superiority. The scholars, nearly all of them or by consensus, agree on the permissibility of i'tikaf in the mosques, despite the generality of the verse, which is His saying, the Exalted:
as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques
وَأَنتُمْ عَاكِفُونَ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 141/55 شرح زاد المستقنع/ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com (23:05)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.