What is the authenticity of the hadith [There is no i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) except in the three mosques]?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, he says: A hadith was reported:Sunan Abi Dawud 2473Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani) Is this hadith authentic?
Answer:
Yes, it is a hadith, and it appears to be strong. However, the meaning of the negation here is that i'tikaf is not valid except in the mosques; rather, the negation here is of excellence, not of the original ruling. Therefore, some of the contemporary scholars cited it as evidence and said, "There is no i'tikaf except in the three mosques." This is a mistaken understanding.
This is a mistaken understanding. Allah said:[Al-Baqarah 2:187] and He did not specify one mosque over another. So, "There is no i'tikaf except in the three mosques" means that there is no i'tikaf more excellent than i'tikaf in the three mosques. Yes. Why do they restrict the Muslims? They do not perform i'tikaf except in the three mosques. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, he says: A hadith was reported:
there is no i'tikaf except in a congregational mosque.
لا اعتكاف إلا في المساجد الثلاثة،Answer:
Yes, it is a hadith, and it appears to be strong. However, the meaning of the negation here is that i'tikaf is not valid except in the mosques; rather, the negation here is of excellence, not of the original ruling. Therefore, some of the contemporary scholars cited it as evidence and said, "There is no i'tikaf except in the three mosques." This is a mistaken understanding.
This is a mistaken understanding. Allah said:
as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques
وَأَنتُمْ عَاكِفُونَ فِي الْمَسَاجِدِ
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، [1173 -3022] ما صحة حديث [لا اعتكاف إلا في المساجد الثلاثة]؟ - الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.