A Note on the Beginning of the Period of I'tikaf

The Shaykh : As for the second note, it is a note that both distressed and amazed me; it distressed me and amazed me. I heard that a group of young men who are eager for good began their i'tikaf from the night of the eleventh [of Ramadan] in order to observe i'tikaf for twenty days. There is no doubt that what motivated them to do this, as I suppose, was their eagerness for good and their desire to do much righteous work. That is what we assume about them; we do not think that they intend to contradict the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And I am amazed by such an action, for a person to worship Allah with his emotions and his desires.