There are magnificent fruits of I‘tikaaf (seclusion in the mosque) and the question arises, which I posed a little while ago: Why do we make I‘tikaaf, leave our families and affairs? What are the rulings of I‘tikaaf? What is lawful and what is unlawful in I‘tikaaf? What would invalidate I‘tikaaf?
If I‘tikaaf has no fruits, then it is valueless. To sum up, some of the fruits of I‘tikaaf are:
First: Sincerity and full devotion to Allah because when one is in his place of I‘tikaaf, none sees him but Allah The Almighty. Ihsaan is to worship Allah as if you can see Him, and though you cannot see Him, you are fully aware that He Sees you. In your place of I‘tikaaf, you pray, fast, remember Allah, recite the Quran and accustom yourself to offering all acts with full sincerity to Allah, which is a pillar of every good deed, as you know. “Whoever performs a deed associating others with Me, I shall leave him to what he associates with Me.”
Second: Accustoming yourself to getting rid of extra talk, food, sleep and mixing with people.
Third: Accustoming yourself to worship, especially to praying at night, reciting the Quran, asking Allah for forgiveness, remembering Allah and supplicating and praising Allah privately.
Fourth: Strengthening your relationship with Allah The Almighty, resorting to Him and supplicating and praising Him privately.
Fifth: Accustoming yourself to contemplation and to using the blessing of the mind in the best way, especially in this era of adversities and trials.
Sixth: Preparing oneself for the loneliness in the grave. Many people collapse when afflicted and forced to live alone. I‘tikaaf makes the Muslim accustomed to facing afflictions; in fact, it makes him accustomed to enjoying this. I know people who were forced to live alone for several years and they did not break down and did not become cowards. They were deprived of their families, something that added only to their strength and steadfastness. I‘tikaaf, thus, accustoms one to steadfastness. On the other hand, there are people who break down when they were forced to be alone for several days. Man is sociable by nature, as Ibn Khuldoon said. He loves other people and loves mixing with them. He is used to living with his parents, wife, children, brothers, friends and neighbors. Hence, when he is isolated from people, he cannot keep firm. I‘tikaaf makes one accustomed to steadfastness, which is a great lesson, May Allah protect us all and spare us afflictions.
So, accustom yourself to consuming little food, to sleeping a short while, to living in seclusion from people because most of those who are afflicted are tried with this type of affliction; deprivation of certain types of food, of sleep sometimes, of other people and of luxuries. Hence, I‘tikaaf instills this characteristic in man and makes him familiar with seclusion and with deprivation of many things in his life, that is if man practices I‘tikaaf in the correct manner.
Seventh: Practicing self-reckoning regarding religious and worldly affairs, in terms of worship and other aspects. This way one will try to make up for any shortcoming in his life, especially in aspects of worship. We all complain, nowadays, of our negligence in worship, recitation of the Quran, prayer and other acts of worship. I‘tikaaf is an opportunity to make up for part of our negligence.
Eighth: Accustoming oneself to managing his time perfectly without wasting a second, let alone minutes and hours. I know some people, who make I‘tikaaf and for whom a minute is like an hour in ordinary days and an hour is like a day because they spend their time making Thikr (mentioning Allah), asking Allah for forgiveness, reciting the Quran, contemplating and meditating over knowledge. Hence, they feel that every single minute is of great significance in their life. If you can spend ten days of your life making use of your time in that perfect way, then you will get used to investing your time perfectly thereafter.
Ninth: Instilling serious upbringing and resolution.
Tenth: Reviving a great Sunnah act that was abandoned by many people, which is the Sunnah of practicing I‘tikaaf. A few years ago, none would make I‘tikaaf but some elderly people. However, today this act of Sunnah has been is revived and is widespread in mosques. So, when you make I‘tikaaf you are reviving by this a great Sunnah act that was about to be abandoned by many people.
Eleventh: Renouncing sins or committing less of them.
Twelfth: Accustoming oneself to patience, striving against his own self and to abstaining from following fancies and the devil. In this predicament that the Ummah is living, we direly need to be trained to adopting patience, striving against our own selves and quitting many matters and habits that we have acquired and that are needless. I‘tikaaf helps you to be accustomed to all this.
Something that is worthy of noting here is that some brothers say they cannot make I‘tikaaf for the whole of the last ten nights of Ramadan. Dear brothers, you can make I‘tikaaf for five nights, or at least for the odd nights where the Night of Al-Qadr (Divine decree) is likely sought. Make I‘tikaaf from the twenty-seventh night until the twenty-ninth night according to your conditions and circumstances. These are only a few days and the fruits are great and countless, and not only those that I mentioned. You may come out with benefits and fruits that none knows or experiences but you. That is why, if you meet with people who have made I‘tikaaf after the end of the period of their I‘tikaaf, you shall find each of them mentioning a benefit that was not found by others either because of some conditions that he experienced, or because of his job, his experience or his life. I know some elderly people who have never left doing I‘tikaaf for long years that could be up to twenty or thirty years, not even once. The Prophet, , never left I‘tikaaf from when he started doing it until he died, except when he was outside Madeenah. The year when he left I‘tikaaf, because of an issue of his wives, he compensated for it in Shawwaal.
My advice for young men is that they give up many types of I‘tikaaf that I see them practicing these days and that include gatherings, parties, restaurants, conversations, and even backbiting, talebearing, joking and laughing. Despite all this they say they are in I‘tikaaf. I have even seen people making I‘tikaaf in the Haram (Grand Mosque in Makkah), which is the best place to make I‘tikaaf, and still their I‘tikaaf lacks many aspects of the prescribed I‘tikaaf. So, if any of you make I‘tikaaf, let it be a sound one.
In case one makes a mistake or is negligent in one way or another, let him return to Allah and ask Him insistently to accept this I‘tikaaf.
At the conclusion, you should ask yourself about the benefits you have gained from your I‘tikaaf. I advise you to keep a paper and a pen and to write down any idea that occurs to you during I‘tikaaf. Beware of saying that you memorize it and will not forget it, because you will certainly forget it. Imaam Al-Bukhari would rise from his bed when an idea would occur to his mind in order to write it down then turn off the light and sleep again. He would do this sometimes twenty times a night. Write down any idea that comes to your mind and do not consider it useless. Someone else may develop something good of that simple idea and come out with a solution to any of the difficult problems of the Ummah. Thus, keep a notebook with you in the place of your I‘tikaaf and you may come up with a great wealth of ideas. Try to accustom yourself to that in lessons and lectures.
Another fruit of making I‘tikaaf in the last ten nights of Ramadan is keenness on seeking the Night of Al-Qadr (Divine decree) as mentioned by scholars. This is why the Prophet, , chose these nights to make I‘tikaaf in them. Thus, be diligent and supplicate to Allah insistently for yourselves, your families and your fellow Muslims everywhere. The Muslim captives are waiting for your supplication for them to be released from their captivity and to be relieved of their distress and to return to their people safe and sound. Your brothers and sisters in Palestine are waiting now for your supplication, your donations and your Zakah (obligatory charity), so supplicate to Allah insistently in such blessed days.
Are you aware, dear Muslim, that one night is better than 83 years. This is only one single guaranteed night that you will witness if you observe I‘tikaaf regularly during the last ten nights of Ramadan. We are granted three chances in Ramadan and the deprived one is the one who misses these opportunities: “Whoever fasts Ramadan out of faith and seeking reward from Allah, his past sins will be forgiven.”
“Whoever stands (in prayer) Ramadan out of faith and seeking reward from Allah, his past sins will be forgiven.”
“Whoever stands (in prayer) the Night of Al-Qadr out of faith and seeking reward from Allah, his past sins will be forgiven.”
The loser is the one who misses all these three opportunities without being forgiven. These are three opportunities that you may realize altogether if you are sincere with Allah. So, be sincere with Allah, repent to Him and strive against your own selves.
May Allah accept all our deeds and guide us to the Night of Al-Qadr, and may He exalt the mention of our Prophet Muhammad, his family and all his Companions.