What is the advice for one who performs i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) and delegates others to his mosque?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Honorable Shaykh! We observe that some imams and preachers perform i'tikaf and delegate some people to their mosques for a fixed wage, with them, or for free, without the knowledge of the mosque administration under the Islamic Affairs, so I ask for advice for them.
The Shaykh : This has been answered before; we have spoken about it. Yes.
The questioner : Delegate it, delegate it.
The Shaykh : Yes, if he goes, whether he delegates or not, he must fulfill the obligatory duty. But if he delegates a competent person and the Endowments Administration is pleased with it and the people of the mosque are pleased with it, there is no harm. And with this, my advice to him is that he not perform i'tikaf, but that he remain in his mosque and perform i'tikaf in his mosque, and praise be to Allah, the matter is broad.
The Shaykh : This has been answered before; we have spoken about it. Yes.
The questioner : Delegate it, delegate it.
The Shaykh : Yes, if he goes, whether he delegates or not, he must fulfill the obligatory duty. But if he delegates a competent person and the Endowments Administration is pleased with it and the people of the mosque are pleased with it, there is no harm. And with this, my advice to him is that he not perform i'tikaf, but that he remain in his mosque and perform i'tikaf in his mosque, and praise be to Allah, the matter is broad.
Source
دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام لعام 1414 هـ - 8 — binothaimeen.net (1:29:20)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.