Fatwa ID: 06085

Answered by: Maulana Yūsuf Badāt

Question:

When does I’tikāf start for a masjid that goes by calculations and will do 30 days this year?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

The sunnah i’itikāf of Ramaḍān commences on the 20^th evening at sunset therefore one who intends the sunnah i’itikāf should be in the masjid before the sunset on the 20^th day of Ramaḍān. The sunnah i’itikāf will conclude as soon as the sun sets on the 30^th day. This is the same rule regardless of which moon sighting method you and your local masjid follow. – (Rad Al-Muḥtār, Vol 2, Page 452, Dār Al-Fikr)¹

Abū Sa’īd Al-Khudrī reports, “The Messenger of Allāh, (peace and blessings be upon him) used to do i’itikāf in the middle ten days of Ramaḍān. One year he was doing i’itikāf and then when it came to the night of the twenty-first, which was the night before the morning when he would normally have finished his i’itikāf, he said, “Whoever has done i’itikāf with me should continue doing i’itikāf for the last ten days.” – (Muwaṭṭā 700)²

Only Allāh knows best

Written by Maulana Yūsuf Badāt

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

1 وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللَّيَالِيَ تَابِعُهُ لِلْأَيَّامِ أَيْ كُلُّ لَيْلَةٍ تَتْبَعُ الْيَوْمَ الَّذِي بَعْدَهَا أَلَا تَرَى أَنَّهُ يُصَلِّي التَّرَاوِيحَ فِي أَوَّلِ لَيْلَةٍ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ دُونَ أَوَّلِ لَيْلَةٍ مِنْ شَوَّالٍ فَعَلَى هَذَا إذَا ذَكَرَ الْمُثَنَّى أَوْ الْمَجْمُوعَ يَدْخُلُ الْمَسْجِدَ قَبْلَ الْغُرُوبِ وَيَخْرُجُ بَعْدَ الْغُرُوبِ مِنْ آخِرِ يَوْمٍ – كتاب الدر المختار وحاشية ابن عابدين رد المحتار ج٢/ ص٤٥٢ دار الفكر

2 عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ أَنَّهُ قَالَ كَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَعْتَكِفُ الْعَشْرَ الْوُسُطَ مِنْ رَمَضَانَ فَاعْتَكَفَ عَامًا حَتَّى إِذَا كَانَ لَيْلَةَ إِحْدَى وَعِشْرِينَ وَهِيَ اللَّيْلَةُ الَّتِي يَخْرُجُ فِيهَا مِنْ صُبْحِهَا مِنَ اعْتِكَافِهِ قَالَ ‏ مَنِ اعْتَكَفَ مَعِي فَلْيَعْتَكِفِ الْعَشْرَ الأَوَاخِرَ – اخرجه مالك في المؤطا ٧٠٠