When the last ten days of Ramadan enter, one abandons sleep and the bed, as well as intercourse with the wife; what is the ruling?

The questioner: When the last ten days of Ramadan enter, one does not... [sleep] on the bed or sleep during the pre-dawn hours, as well as intercourse with the wife; what is the ruling?

The Shaykh: Yes, this is the i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) that is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), from the hadith of A'ishah and others. Among that is her saying (may Allah be pleased with her): "The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), when the last ten days of Ramadan entered, would tighten his waistcloth, wake his family, and keep his night awake." So these ten days are among the days in which it is prescribed for the Muslim to be alone with Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) in the mosque, to purify his soul from what may have settled upon it due to his mixing with people, spouses, and children in the rest of the days of his year.
But I must, on this occasion, and , and ; it is well-known among people that i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in the mosque) is permissible in every mosque, then they differed regarding this mosque; some said it should be a congregational mosque (masjid jami'), and not just a mosque for the five daily prayers, so that they are not forced to choose between two things if they perform i'tikaf in a congregational mosque and not a Friday mosque. In this case, he is forced to choose between two things:
One of them is that he leaves the Friday prayer; because he is in i'tikaf in that mosque where the Friday prayer is not established; and this is undoubtedly clearly defective; because his situation would be, as was said long ago in such a case, like one who builds a palace and demolishes a city. So he preserves the i'tikaf, which is a recommended practice (sunnah), but he neglects the obligatory prayer, which is the Friday prayer. Therefore, they stipulated that his i'tikaf must be in a Friday mosque. And although the one who performed i'tikaf in a congregational mosque can leave that mosque for the Friday prayer, but in this there is a violation of the meaning of i'tikaf; because it came in "Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim" that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not leave his i'tikaf except for the need of a person; meaning necessity. And this person who performed i'tikaf in a congregational mosque and not a Friday mosque is able to leave and pray Friday in a Friday mosque, but in this there is a violation, even if formal, of the i'tikaf in that place. Therefore, most scholars stipulated that his i'tikaf must be in a Friday mosque; so that he is not forced to break his i'tikaf if he is in a congregational mosque and not a Friday mosque.
But the thing I want to point out, based on what was mentioned earlier, is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and thus there remains no basis for that detail I mentioned earlier; because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) negated the legitimacy of i'tikaf except in these three mosques. And this hadith, may Allah have mercy on you, and this hadith is exactly like the well-known hadith recorded in "the two Sahihs"; namely his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): then he mentioned them. Also his saying (peace be upon him): , and the wisdom in this hadith is that people do not be lazy about traveling to the three mosques for i'tikaf or because of i'tikaf in the mosques that are in their lands. This legislative wisdom increases the influx to the major Islamic cities: Makkah, al-Madinah, and Bayt al-Maqdis.
This is what I wanted to remind you of, due to his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , so whoever intends to perform i'tikaf must travel to a mosque among these three mosques. And there is no doubt that travel to Makkah and al-Madinah, and praise be to Allah, is facilitated and smoothed out. And we hope that it will be facilitated for the Muslims, also, to perform i'tikaf in al-Masjid al-Aqsa; and that is for the expulsion of the Jews and returning them to where they were brought from in the lands.
Other than that?

The questioner : Where is this hadith?

The Shaykh: This hadith, I have traced it in my treatise "Qiyam Ramadan" (Standing in Night Prayer in Ramadan), which is printed; have you come across it?

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: You will find there a scholarly tracing (takhrij), and now the source does not come to my mind; it is in, now I am reviewing my memory, it is present in some printed books and others are manuscripts. From the printed books is "Sunan al-Daraqutni al-Kubra" (The Great Sunan of al-Daraqutni), from the manuscripts is the "Mu'jam al-Shuyukh" (Compendium of the Shaykhs) by al-Isma'ili, and also other sources mentioned in this treatise there, it is possible that...