I'tikaf in the Three Mosques and Others
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner asks several questions. May Allah reward you with good. What is the ruling on i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) in the three mosques?
Answer:
The sunnah (recommended practice) of i'tikaf applies to all mosques. The three are: al-Masjid al-Haram, the Prophet’s Mosque (peace and blessings be upon him), and al-Masjid al-Aqsa. These are the best of the mosques. These three are the best of the mosques: al-Masjid al-Haram is the mosque of Makkah, and the mosque of al-Madinah is the Prophet’s Mosque, which is the second in virtue. Then the third in virtue is al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem. I'tikaf in them is an act of drawing near to Allah, and so is i'tikaf in the remaining mosques, as He (Exalted and Majestic is He) said in His great Book:[Al-Baqarah 2:187] So the believer performs i'tikaf in the lower-ranking mosques in Ramadan and in other times, and it is better in Ramadan. Yes.
This questioner asks several questions. May Allah reward you with good. What is the ruling on i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) in the three mosques?
Answer:
The sunnah (recommended practice) of i'tikaf applies to all mosques. The three are: al-Masjid al-Haram, the Prophet’s Mosque (peace and blessings be upon him), and al-Masjid al-Aqsa. These are the best of the mosques. These three are the best of the mosques: al-Masjid al-Haram is the mosque of Makkah, and the mosque of al-Madinah is the Prophet’s Mosque, which is the second in virtue. Then the third in virtue is al-Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem. I'tikaf in them is an act of drawing near to Allah, and so is i'tikaf in the remaining mosques, as He (Exalted and Majestic is He) said in His great Book:
And do not have relations with them as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques
وَلَا تُبَاشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمْ عَاكِفُونَ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ
Source
فتاوى الحج 1410 هـ - 9 — archive.org (11:20)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.