A man in i'tikaf and an employee whose work duty ends on the twenty-fifth day, but he left these days for the sake of i'tikaf; what should he do?
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The Shaykh : We will give you a summary of an answer to a question asked just now, concerning a man in i'tikaf and an employee whose work duty ends on the twenty-fifth day.
There is no doubt that this man who performed i'tikaf and left what is obligatory for him, which is remaining at his job, is striving. But striving, my brothers, if it is not based on legal principles, is mistaken striving. A person may be rewarded for it because he strove and intended the truth, but our striving must be based on the Book and the Sunnah, on the Shari'ah.
The one who left the obligation of his job and came to perform i'tikaf is like one who demolishes a city and builds a palace, because he performed a recommended act, and no one among the Muslims has said it is obligatory. The scholars are in consensus that i'tikaf is not obligatory; it is a sunnah (recommended practice). As for performing the obligation of one's job, it falls under the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Ma'idah 5:1] and in His saying: [Al-Isra 17:34]. So this man left an obligation to perform a recommended act, and this is an error.
Therefore, he must break his i'tikaf and go to his job if he wants to be safe from sin. If he remains in his i'tikaf, he will have performed i'tikaf in a time that is due to others, and the principles of the jurists require that his i'tikaf is not valid in this case, because it is in a time that is usurped or resembles usurped time.
I wanted to point this out so that the brothers who are eager to do good know that it is necessary to observe the legal principles and the evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), so that they build their striving on truth and worship Allah the Exalted with insight.
There is no doubt that this man who performed i'tikaf and left what is obligatory for him, which is remaining at his job, is striving. But striving, my brothers, if it is not based on legal principles, is mistaken striving. A person may be rewarded for it because he strove and intended the truth, but our striving must be based on the Book and the Sunnah, on the Shari'ah.
The one who left the obligation of his job and came to perform i'tikaf is like one who demolishes a city and builds a palace, because he performed a recommended act, and no one among the Muslims has said it is obligatory. The scholars are in consensus that i'tikaf is not obligatory; it is a sunnah (recommended practice). As for performing the obligation of one's job, it falls under the saying of Allah the Exalted:
O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِAnd fulfill [every] commitment. Indeed, the commitment is ever [that about which one will be] questioned.
وَأَوْفُوا بِالْعَهْدِ إِنَّ الْعَهْدَ كَانَ مَسْئُولاًTherefore, he must break his i'tikaf and go to his job if he wants to be safe from sin. If he remains in his i'tikaf, he will have performed i'tikaf in a time that is due to others, and the principles of the jurists require that his i'tikaf is not valid in this case, because it is in a time that is usurped or resembles usurped time.
I wanted to point this out so that the brothers who are eager to do good know that it is necessary to observe the legal principles and the evidence from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), so that they build their striving on truth and worship Allah the Exalted with insight.