Is it permissible for a man to have intercourse with his wife if he is performing i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) in a place other than the mosques?

The questioner : O Shaykh, the confirmation is that the verse says, "Do not have intercourse with them in the mosques," so if it is with you in places other than the mosques, they lied and had intercourse with her.

The Shaykh : If this intercourse contradicts i'tikaf.

The questioner : Stay, O aunts.

The Shaykh : The evidence is that Allah prohibited it, saying, "Do not have intercourse with them," and it is agreed upon that intercourse invalidates i'tikaf.

The questioner : O Shaykh, this is the evidence, and if you are in the mosque, direct intercourse,

The Shaykh : If the legal rulings are absent from an act, it indicates that it is not a religious act. So long as a person performs i'tikaf in his house, for example, and it is permissible for him to have intercourse with his wife, this is not i'tikaf. If it were a religious i'tikaf, its rulings would have applied to him. This is the aspect of the evidence.

The questioner : He says, O Shaykh, this is the evidence for this, that it is.

The Shaykh : This is the evidence, may Allah bless you, that Allah did not make the religious i'tikaf, upon which rulings are based, except when it is in the mosque. And if it is in a place other than the mosque, the rulings do not apply to it. And if the rulings that apply to i'tikaf are absent, it indicates that it is not a religious i'tikaf.