Can a woman perform i’tikaf?

When entering the last ten days of Ramadan there are many ways that we can increase our worship to Allah (SWT). Ways such as improving the evening prayers, intensifying the Holy Qur’an reading, multiplying dhikr, increasing shodaqoh, or performing i’tikaf.

What is meant by i’tikaf? According to translation, i’tikaf means living and secluding himself/herself in a place, and based on syara’, ‘i’tikaf means staying in the mosque for worship with the intent and manner prescribed.

The foundation of the i’tikaf command is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, Al-Baqarah 2:125:

And [mention] when We made the House a place of return for the people and [a place of] security. And take, [O believers], from the standing place of Abraham a place of prayer. And We charged Abraham and Ishmael, [saying], “Purify My House for those who perform Tawaf and those who are staying [there] for worship and those who bow and prostrate [in prayer].”

In addition, in the following hadiths it is mentioned: 

From Aishah (RA), she said: Messenger of Allah performed i’tikaf in the last ten nights of Ramadan, when he was summoned to Allah Almighty. (Mutafaq ‘alaih).

For validity, i’tikaf is permissible when: it is performed in the mosque used for prayer in congregation according to Islam, tamyiz or not done by a crazy person or a small child, when not in jinabat, menstruation, and postpartum (nifas). Schools of Maliki added requirements such as fasting (for both i’tikaf nadzar and sunnah), while in the Hanafi school, fasting is only a requirement for obligatory i’tikaf but not for sunnah i’tikaf. Maliki and Hanafi also added a condition i.e. an intention to perform i’tikaf.

What if a woman wants to perform i’tikaf.

1.       Permission from the husband

Shafi’i Ulema said when a woman performs i’tikaf and has not obtained permission from her husband then the i’tikaf is valid but it is a sin due to not having permission from her husband. When her husband gives her permission but she includes a flirtatious woman then her i’tikaf is makruh.

Maliki scholar stated a woman cannot do a nadzar or sunnah i’tikaf without permission from her husband when she knows very well that her husband needs intercourse. When the woman performs i’tikaf without her husband’s permission then the i’tikaf is legitimate, but her husband is allowed to cancel it with intercourse. Furthermore, the void i’tikaf should be replaced or qadha, though only if it is sunnah i’tikaf, because she had violated the rules by not asking permission from her husband. It also should not hastily be made qadha to her except she gets her husband’s permission.

2.       Safety

If there are mosques that are safe for women and where they are protected from men’s sight then such mosques that have a separate place between men and women, including a separate water supply, are permissible for i’tikaf if her husband permits it.

As if a woman still has a husband and children who need her attention more, then it is better if she stays at home. Conversely, if the woman does not have children, but is still married or her husband has died and her children are married and do not need her attention anymore, it is better that she performs i’tikaf when it is safe for her.

 And Allaah knows best

Source: Fiqhul mar’ah Al-Muslim, by Ibrahim Muhammad al-Jamal

by A.a. Sumadri
by A.a. Sumadri
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