Question
May the sunnah I’tikaaf in Ramadhan be held in a facility which accommodates and facilitates the 5 times salaah, including the Jumuah salaahs. This is presently a Musallah which caters for the residents in the area, over 300 Muslim homes.
Consent dues have been granted already for the musallah to continue, alhamdulillah. The nearest masjid is about 4 Kms away which has a limited space for the mu’takifeen.
Kindly advise if we could hold the sunnah i’tikaaf for the musallees of the area?
Answer
One of the conditions for Sunnah I’tikaaf to be valid is that it must take place in a Masjid, meaning that the land where prayer facilities take place has to be declared as Waqf for a Masjid. In other words, it must be aplace that constitutes a proper Masjid in the parlance of Shari’ah.
The above-mentioned condition will be required when a proper Masjid does exist in a certain locality or town. If a locality is such where together with a Musalla, a proper Masjid also exists in that locality, then the I’tikaaf must be performed in the Masjid and not in the Musalla. In a locality where a proper Masjid does not exist at all, but there is a Musalla or prayer facility demarcated for the five times daily Salaah and Salaah regularly takes place therein, then the requisite condition of the place being a formal Masjid falls away, thereby creating leeway for Sunnah I’tikaaf to be performed in such a place.
Therefore, if the locality which you have queried (which caters for five times daily Salaah and Jumu’ah Salaah for its 300 Muslim homes), is such wherein no formal Masjid exists at present and the nearest Masjid is (as you have stated) about 4kms away in a totally different locality/township, then I’tikaaf may be performed in the Musalla of the locality. There is strong hope those performing I’tikaaf of the last ten days of Ramadhaan will Insha-Allah receive the reward of the Sunnah I’tikaaf.
Checked and Approved By:
Mufti Muhammed Saeed Motara Saheb D.B.
References
Fataawa Rahimiyya Vol. 7 pg. 282