Discussion on i'tikaf: First: Its ruling
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The Shaykh : Regarding i'tikaf, we said we would discuss its ruling and what else? And its rulings. Its ruling is that it is a recommended practice (sunnah), but if it occupies one from what is more important, it is left. If a person is occupied from an obligatory duty, such as an employee who says, "I want to perform i'tikaf and leave my job," then it is forbidden (haram) for him. If someone were to say that his i'tikaf is not valid, his statement would be close to the truth. For whose benefit is the time of the job? Is it for the person or for the work? For whose benefit is the time of the job?
The student: For the work.
The Shaykh : For the work, for the benefit of the organization in which you are employed. You do not have the right to abandon it ever. Also, if a person performs i'tikaf and neglects his family, and he has women who need care or children who need care, and if he performs i'tikaf he would neglect them, we tell him: Do you perform i'tikaf or not? We say: Do not perform i'tikaf. To demolish a city to build a palace is foolishness. Do not perform i'tikaf.
And it is amazing that some people perform i'tikaf and leave their job, or they take what is called an emergency leave. I am speaking now about employees in Saudi Arabia. Where is the necessity? Where is the necessity for i'tikaf? There is no necessity because it is a recommended practice (sunnah). So how do you lie to the state and request emergency leave when you are not in a state of necessity?
Now, if his i'tikaf leads to severing family ties or undutifulness to his parents, for example, if he has two sick parents who need nursing care, who need to be taken to the hospital, or who need him to sit with them in the hospital, do we say: Perform i'tikaf and leave these people? Or do we say: Leave the i'tikaf? Answer, everyone.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : We say: Leave the i'tikaf. I'tikaf is a recommended practice (sunnah).
The student: For the work.
The Shaykh : For the work, for the benefit of the organization in which you are employed. You do not have the right to abandon it ever. Also, if a person performs i'tikaf and neglects his family, and he has women who need care or children who need care, and if he performs i'tikaf he would neglect them, we tell him: Do you perform i'tikaf or not? We say: Do not perform i'tikaf. To demolish a city to build a palace is foolishness. Do not perform i'tikaf.
And it is amazing that some people perform i'tikaf and leave their job, or they take what is called an emergency leave. I am speaking now about employees in Saudi Arabia. Where is the necessity? Where is the necessity for i'tikaf? There is no necessity because it is a recommended practice (sunnah). So how do you lie to the state and request emergency leave when you are not in a state of necessity?
Now, if his i'tikaf leads to severing family ties or undutifulness to his parents, for example, if he has two sick parents who need nursing care, who need to be taken to the hospital, or who need him to sit with them in the hospital, do we say: Perform i'tikaf and leave these people? Or do we say: Leave the i'tikaf? Answer, everyone.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : We say: Leave the i'tikaf. I'tikaf is a recommended practice (sunnah).