The minimum duration for i'tikaf

Question:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, what is the minimum duration for i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque)?

Answer:
There is no fixed limit; the duration has no set limit. It could be part of a day or an hour. However, the i'tikaf that is intended and mentioned in the hadiths is the long i'tikaf. The minimum of what is most excellent is a day and a night. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab asked the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that he had made a vow to spend a night in the Sacred Mosque. He had vowed during the pre-Islamic age of ignorance to perform i'tikaf for a night in the Sacred Mosque. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: I'tikaf has no fixed limit. There is a little and a lot of it, but the more there is, the better it is. Yes.