What is i‘tikaf, or “ritual retreat,” in Islam?
I‘tikaf – which as an Arabic word means to ‘adhere to’ or to ‘commit oneself’ to something – as a technical religious term within the Shari‘ah, or Divinely Imparted Law, of Islam, names a ritual form of worship in which a worshipper voluntarily takes up residence in a mosque in spiritual retreat in a specific way for a self-specified time. ‘I‘tikaf’ can be translated as ‘ritual retreat’ in English.
Is i‘tikaf always voluntary?
Yes. There is scholarly consensus that ritual retreat as a form of worship is never an obligation in Islam, except for one who makes a vow to do it.
Is i‘tikaf accompanied by other worship obligations?
There is no scholarly agreement on accompanying conditions of worship that validate i’tikaf.
Some scholars (s. ‘alim, pl. ‘ulama’) say that if a Muslim makes an intention to do ritual retreat (i‘tikaf) for a certain period of time and then begins it, he or she is obligated to fulfill this period as intended.
Others consider the worship of fasting (sawm), in the form specified by Islam, as a necessary condition of ritual retreat, meaning that if one goes into i’tikaf in the mosque, one must fast to make one’s ritual retreat valid.
Some of the ‘ulama’ say that the worshipper in i‘tikaf must maintain a state of physical ritual purity, through ablution (wudu’) or ritual bathing (ghusl), properly renewing this state whenever broken, to make i‘tikaf valid.
When is the best time to perform i‘tikaf?
The worship form of ritual retreat comes in association with Ramadan in verse 187 of the Quran’s second surah (Surat Al-Baqarah, 2:187), occurring in the course of the verses (2:183-87) that enjoin fasting and the Ramadan fast in particular.
So Muslims universally mark Ramadan as the best time to perform i‘tikaf, though one may make ritual retreat in a mosque anytime.
How do we know Ramadan is the best time for i‘tikaf?
We know certainly that the Prophet, on him be peace, used to make ritual retreat in Ramadan.
Moreover, we know for a fact that he sought to ensure his ritual retreat in Ramadan encompassed the greatest night in the sacred lunar calendar of Islam, Laylat Al-Qadr, the Night of Empowering Decree, which he said occurs in the last ten nights of Ramadan, likely on one of its odd nights.
What did the Prophet, peace on him, say of i‘tikaf in Ramadan?
Three consecutive authenticated reports on the Prophet, on him be peace, in the most authenticated prophetic report collection of Bukhari unmistakably establish the Prophet’s practice of ritual retreat (i‘tikaf), on him be peace.
(Sahih Al-Bukhari, or The Authentic Prophetic Reports Collection of Al-Bukhari) is eponymously named after the greatest scholar of prophetic reports, who is himself known by his “toponymic” surname, Bukhari (d. 256 H / 870 CE). He was born in Bukhara (in present day Uzbekistan). His compendium is the most authoritative collection reporting authenticated prophetic statements, acts, and approvals, known collectively as hadith.)
The Companion Abdullah ibn ‘Umar, Allah be pleased with him, said:
The Messenger of God, God’s prayers of blessings upon him and peace, used to make ritual retreat (i‘tikaf) in the last ten days of Ramadan.” (Bukhari, no. 2025)
Aisha, Allah be pleased with her, the wife of the Prophet, on him be peace, said:
The Prophet used to make ritual retreat (i‘tikaf) for the last ten nights of Ramadan until he passed away. And his wives continued to make ritual retreat (i‘tikaf) [for the last ten nights] after him. (Bukhari, no. 2026)
The Companion Abu Sa‘id Al-Khudri, Allah be pleased with him, said:
The Messenger of God, God’s prayers of blessings upon him and peace, used to make ritual retreat (i‘tikaf) in the middle ten days of Ramadan. One year, he made ritual retreat and came to the 21st night, which, ordinarily then, used to be the last night of his ritual retreat, whereafter he would leave his ritual retreat the next morning.
“Then the Messenger of God said:
‘Anyone who has made ritual retreat (i‘tikaf) with me [for the middle ten nights], then let him [continue and] make ritual retreat (i‘tikaf) with me for the last ten nights. For, indeed, I have been shown that Night [Laylat Al-Qadr, in it]. Then [the knowledge of its night of occurrence was taken from me, and] I was made to forget it.
‘Yet, truly, I saw in a dream that I was making prostration [sujud, bowing the forehead to the ground in prayer] in the mud the morning after Laylat Al-Qadr. So seek it out in the last ten nights. And seek it out on every odd night.’
“Then the sky rained that night. The mosque had a thatched roof, so the roof leaked. Then with my own two eyes I saw the Messenger of God, God’s prayers of blessings upon him and peace, with traces of mud on his forehead the morning of the 21st. (Bukhari, no. 2027)
How is i‘tikaf done?
I‘tikaf has several qualifying conditions and spiritual virtues:
Ritual Retreat Must Be Done In A Mosque.
Bukhari mentions i‘tikaf as valid in “all the mosques,” meaning that ritual retreat as an act of worship must be performed in a mosque. It does not count anywhere else as an act of worship.
Ritual Retreat Requires Intention.
I‘tikaf requires the intention (niyyah) of restricting oneself to the mosque and leaving behind unessential worldly concerns and activities related to family and work.
Ritual Retreat Has No Time Limit.
I‘tikaf means abiding or residing in a mosque for any length of time. It can take place in any month, not only in Ramadan or in Ramadan’s last ten days.
Ritual Retreat Is Itself A Continuous Worship.
I‘tikaf itself embodies devoting oneself to the worship of God. So one’s dwelling or residence in ritual retreat in a mosque – simply being there with that intention – is itself a continuous act of worship whenever one undertakes it as such for the entire length of time one is in it.
Ritual Retreat Is A Correction of Monasticism.
I‘tikaf is the acceptable and true form of ritual retreat and worshipful seclusion, as opposed to the forms of monasticism other communities have established. God says in the Quran:
“But as for the tradition of monasticism – they themselves invented it. Never did We prescribe it for them, but only that they seek the pleasure of God.” (Surat Al-Hadid, 57:27)
Ritual Retreat Embeds Life-Balance In The Muslim Community.
I‘tikaf demonstrates that Islam does not envision a society in which some commit wholly to worldly gain while others devote themselves solely to spiritual exercise. It seeks to build a community of believers who allot a portion of life to worldly pursuits and a part to sanctuary from the world. Balance between the life of the world and religious devotion makes ritual retreat strongly recommended sometimes, permissible at others, and forbidden in any extreme practice.
Ritual Retreat Is A Portable Means of Sacred Reconnection.
I‘tikaf as a form of worship comprises a middle allocation of temporary permissibility that enables us to tailor it to our varied personal circumstances, and to depressurize from the struggle for livelihood and the harried nature of communal living, which God Himself created in our physical lives.
Retreat satisfies the need in us to reaffirm connection with the sacred – whether our distance or even disconnection from the Divine comes from a world “too much with us,” as the poet said, in its abundance or demand; or we feel overcome by our own indulgence in the life of the world; or we face excessive hardship and abuse from society and those around us.
Yet there can be no doubt that from time-to-time, whoever we are and whatever our condition, we need to disentangle from the material and temporal in order to cure our hearts and seek closeness to God, from Whom we may have drifted or, may He forgive us, neglected in His obligatory remembrance.
In view of the human propensity to grow overwhelmed by the world (al-dunya), the Quran lays out a form of worship, ritual retreat, as a restorative practice. It requires us to take up residence in a mosque to reestablish spiritual connection, accepting no other location for ritual retreat as an act of continuous worship, on one hand, and forbidding this ritual form of devotion in any other place, on the other.
What is restricted during i‘tikaf?
Ritual retreat has two limits, both of which are contained in the verse of the Quran that establishes i‘itkaf as a laudable Ramadan practice.
First comes the affirmation of its exclusive place – in the mosques of God – and then it mentions i’tikaf’s defining limitation: the negation of even lawful sexual relations while in ritual retreat:
But do not ever lie with them for so long as you may be in ritual retreat in the mosques of God” (Surat Al-Baqarah, 2:187)
This instructs men not to have sexual relations with their wives (and by extension a woman with her husband) when performing i’tikaf.
Sexual activity categorically contradicts all forms of ritual worship, which is the defining purpose of the mosque. The phrase to focus on here is ‘ritual worship,’ like the Salah-Prayer, or in the state of sanctified purity (ihram) of the Hajj-Pilgrimage, or while fasting (and especially so in Ramadan (See What Is Meant By Kaffarah for Violations of Ramadan Fasts?).
What is the context of the sexual restriction during i‘tikaf?
The revealed context for this restriction is the permission God grants fasters in the same verse – after they had succumbed to sleep during the nights of the Ramadan fast – to (1) have relations with their wives on a Ramadan fasting night, and (2) to eat if they awoke in the night. Both were previously forbidden acts once a person slept when the fast of Ramadan was first enjoined.
Permitted for you believers on the night of the fast is intimate approach to your wives. They are a garment for you. And you are a garment for them. God knows that before granting this permission, you used to betray yourselves. Thus, He has granted you repentance for what is past and pardoned you. So now you may lie with them and seek whatever offspring God has decreed for you. Moreover, you may now eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes clear to you, as distinguished from the black thread of night. Then complete the fast until the night.” (Surat Al-Baqarah, 2:187)
The restriction of sexual intercourse during i‘tikaf, however, remains intact in the same verse:
But do not ever lie with them for so long as you may be in ritual retreat in the mosques of God. These are the ordained limits of God. Therefore, do not approach them. Thus does God make clear His revealed signs to all people, that they may be ever God-fearing.” (Surat Al-Baqarah, 2:187)
Sexual relations in mosques are forbidden in general, which is a consensus position (ijma‘) of the scholars, making it very strong (and an expiation penalty must be paid if one violates this rule).
The revealed restriction here shows that i‘tikaf can take place only in the mosque as such, as sexual relations during it are explicitly prohibited. Were ritual retreat as a form of worship allowed elsewhere, God would have necessarily forbidden sexual intercourse wherever such ritual retreat was allowed, which is nowhere the case. In this way, the verse’s restriction of i‘tikaf to the mosques is also established.
Having said this, taking to the wild, open pasturelands, mountaintops, caves, and the like for seclusion as a retreat from society’s excessive harms can be restorative, and this verse is not restricting this. But this is not the worship of i‘tikaf as Islam defines and exhorts it, even though one may experience a sense of spiritual renewal from one’s worship in such places.
Do we know why this i‘tikaf verse of the Quran was revealed?
The famed Quran commentator and historian Ibn Jarir Al-Tabari (d. 310 H / 923 CE) and others state the occasion for this verse’s revelation on the authority of the Companion Qatadah ibn Nu‘man.
He says the Companions of the Prophet, on him be peace, previously made ritual retreat and left the mosque for their needs as necessary. If they met up with their wives during their necessary outings from the mosque, they would engage in sexual intercourse and then return to their i‘tikaf. So God revealed this verse to set ritual retreat’s limits.
What lessons does this explanation of the i‘tikaf verse hold?
When one enters into ritual retreat, leaving the mosques for a necessity does not break one’s retreat. One remains in retreat. Necessities can be work or bringing food to one’s family, or the like, if there is no one else to do it.
A person may exit the mosque for the time it takes to do a deed of necessity and return. As long as one’s departure is as short as possible, leaving the mosque does not break one’s act of i‘tikaf.
Thus, a man who vows a three-day-and-night ritual retreat who leaves the mosque for a need breaks neither his retreat or vow.
If that same man has relations with his wife after leaving the mosque for a need, he breaks his ritual retreat, for that act removes one from the state of ritual purity.
Islam places no shame nor demeans the character of one who partakes of lawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, the Prophet, on him be peace, explicitly states that men and women who engage in it when and where permissible gain the blessing of God for their act, even though it gives us passionate pleasure. All is, or can be, worship in Islam.
When it comes to voluntary or obligatory ritual worship, Islam bars sexual relations. This line enables wholesome and joyous human community. In moments and settings where sexual relations are permissible, we may enjoy them with blessing. In times of restriction, the worshiper is reminded of his or her spiritual connection to God.
The Hanafi School of Law deems it acceptable for a woman to make ritual retreat in the mosque of her house, meaning a place in her house set aside for prayer.
The Shafi‘is and Malikis deem it permissible for both men and women to make ritual retreat in the prayer places in their houses, on the prophetic basis of acts of voluntary worship at home having preference in general to their performance in the mosque.
Abu Hanifah and Imam Ahmad hold that i‘tikaf must be performed in mosques that host the five daily prayers.
There is no time constraint on ritual retreat, as already stated. One may perform it for five minutes or for as long as desired, though not as a perpetual state. Some scholars hold that the Friday Congregational Prayer (Salat Al-Jumu‘ah) breaks i‘tikaf.
The last ten days of Ramadan remain i‘tikaf’s best time. One who practices it follows the “firmly established way” of the Prophet, on him be peace (a worship act classified as a “sunnah mu’akkadah”). For the aim of this ritual retreat coincides with the prophetic command and life-example to seek the Night of Empowering Decree (Laylat Al-Qadr), a miraculous interval of blessing without compare.