Question
Can 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.
The nearest masjid is about 4 Kms away which has a limited space for the mu’takifeen.
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 a place 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.
Checked and Approved By:
Mufti Muhammed Saeed Motara Saheb D.B.
References
Fataawa Rahimiyya vol. 7, pg. 282