The ruling on placing a small tent in the mosque for i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque)
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. There are many questions on one issue, which is that it has become widespread in some mosques for some young men to bring a small tent that fits one person and place it in the mosque to perform i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) in it, claiming that they are following the action of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Is this prescribed?
The Shaykh:
No, this is a bid'ah (religious innovation), and it is not permissible to do so; it must be prevented. It must be prevented. He is coming to pray, not to perform i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque). He should sit and wait for the prayer with the Muslims, pray with them, and then leave to seek his livelihood from Allah. Bringing a tent with him every time he enters the mosque and saying, "We are doing i'tikaf," is not what the Salaf (the earliest generations) did. They did not bring tents with them for prayer and claim it was for i'tikaf. Yes.
The questioner:
Some of them bring it only during the last ten days. Is that permissible for them? I say some of them bring it only during the last ten days.
The Shaykh:
If he wants to place it in a place that does not bother people and wants to perform i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) in it until the day of the festival comes, there is nothing wrong with it. But if he brings it every day and takes it out every day, he is not performing i'tikaf.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. There are many questions on one issue, which is that it has become widespread in some mosques for some young men to bring a small tent that fits one person and place it in the mosque to perform i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) in it, claiming that they are following the action of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Is this prescribed?
The Shaykh:
No, this is a bid'ah (religious innovation), and it is not permissible to do so; it must be prevented. It must be prevented. He is coming to pray, not to perform i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque). He should sit and wait for the prayer with the Muslims, pray with them, and then leave to seek his livelihood from Allah. Bringing a tent with him every time he enters the mosque and saying, "We are doing i'tikaf," is not what the Salaf (the earliest generations) did. They did not bring tents with them for prayer and claim it was for i'tikaf. Yes.
The questioner:
Some of them bring it only during the last ten days. Is that permissible for them? I say some of them bring it only during the last ten days.
The Shaykh:
If he wants to place it in a place that does not bother people and wants to perform i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) in it until the day of the festival comes, there is nothing wrong with it. But if he brings it every day and takes it out every day, he is not performing i'tikaf.
Source
المنتقى من أخبار سيد المرسلين11-05-1437هـ — alfawzan.live (1:00:27)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.