We request an elaboration and explanation regarding the hadith: (There is no i'tikaf except in the three mosques)?

The questioner : All right, our Shaykh, question three: We request an elaboration and explanation regarding the hadith: ?

The Shaykh : There is no elaboration or expansion beyond what came in the treatise "Standing in Night Prayer," but I will say a brief word: this hadith is like his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): , and he mentioned the same mosques in which he said: ; meaning that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) preferred these mosques over all the mosques of the world, and singled them out for some of the rulings of the Shari'ah to the exclusion of the others; among this is that it is not permissible for a Muslim to intend to travel to any of the mosques of the world except these three mosques. Likewise, He singled out these three mosques for the prescription of i'tikaf in them, unlike the other mosques where i'tikaf is not prescribed.

The questioner : Our Shaykh, I once heard you elaborate on this, saying that the mosques are divided into: the mosque of the house, the mosque of the neighborhood, the congregational mosque, the public mosque, and the three mosques. You said that there is a disagreement among the schools of jurisprudence on this. Did one of the Imams say that there is no i'tikaf except in the three mosques? Or is it taken from the hadith? Because many of the young people say: No one among the jurists said this; what is your response to them?

The Shaykh : ... They contradict the hadith, and they are very many. They argue with His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): , saying that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) generalized the mosques here and did not restrict them to the three mosques. We say that this objection is not raised by one who is a jurist in the Book and the Sunnah; because we say: Either the "al" here is from the Arabic perspective for totality and inclusion; and the meaning of that is that the meaning of "mosques" is all mosques. Or the "al" here is for the known and not for totality and inclusion; and on this second meaning of the known—that is, what is known by the Shari'ah—the hadith remains here to clarify to you that "mosques" means the mosques in which i'tikaf is recognized by the Shari'ah, by such a hadith. If we return to the first meaning or the assumption of the first meaning; which is that "mosques" has the "al" for totality and inclusion, here I bring the detail that you pointed to. A person has a mosque in his house in which he prays; is it included in the verse? Of course, this is not said by the majority of those who say that the verse includes other than the three mosques; so what do they answer regarding the mosque of the house? They have no answer except arbitrariness; because they contradict themselves at that time. If they interpret "mosques" with the meaning of totality and inclusion, the mosque of the house is included, and they do not include it; so at that time, what did they fall into? Contradiction. Ah, some of them said: It must be a congregational mosque; meaning it is not a neighborhood mosque like the mosque that the questioner asked about earlier, in which Friday prayer is not performed. Many of them say: This mosque is not one in which i'tikaf is performed. Why? Because if he performs i'tikaf in it, he must either miss the Friday prayer for himself or leave the i'tikaf for the Friday prayer; this is their point of view, and so on.
The Shaykh : After this detail, we say: The Qur'an and the Sunnah agree; so it is not permissible to understand the Qur'an separated from the Sunnah, as we say in the hadith of Mu'adh ibn Jabal: to the end of the hadith. I say: This hadith is invalid; because it separates the Book and the Sunnah in that it looks first of all at the Qur'an, then looks at the Sunnah; whereas it is obligatory to look at them together; so that one does not fall into the errors that many of those who belong to the group of Quranists fall into, or rather make their error. We, for example, if we look at such as His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): , we would understand that dead fish is forbidden, but we do not say this, and the majority of Muslims do not say it. Why? Because hadiths came in the Sunnah that clarify; so the dead thing here is interpreted in light of the hadiths. Likewise, what? Blood, is interpreted—also—in light of the hadith of the liver and spleen. Thus we say: It is not permissible for us to be independent in understanding this verse without what? Joining the verse to the hadith, and joining the hadith to the verse; at that time we come out with a result that is certain: the mosques are the three mosques.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And beware of that.

The questioner : And may Allah bless you.