In this regard...

In this regard, the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him and his family) has said: “The person who secludes himself (in the Masjid in I’tikaf) in true faith and hope (for the reward of Allah), all of his previous sins shall be forgiven [3] .” () Status of Iʿtikāf Iʿtikāf is one of the highly recommended (mustaḥabb) worship in Islam that consists of at least three days of fasting in a mosque.

However, it becomes obligatory (wājib) through a vow (nadhr), covenant (ʿahd), oath (qasam), or suchlike [4] . There is no specific time to perform Iʿtikāf during a year, but the best time for performing iʿtikāf is the holy month of Ramadan, more so during the last ten nights of the month of Ramadan [5] .

Significance of Iʿtikāf It is pertinent to mention that the period of Iʿtikāf is the best time to force one’s self to sit and think and reflect on the self and the world around; the period of the Iʿtikāf is the best time to forget the worries of the transient world and to return to the soul and the Creator of the soul; the period of the Iʿtikāf is the best time to return to Allah in true repentance for our sins committed through the year and to concentrate on the divine commandments in the glorious Qur’an, the prayers and supplications used to call upon Him and all of those things which are related to Him and His Sacred Essence.

Iʿtikāf is not a period to engage in worldly affairs or pass one’s time in idleness. Rather, it is a period of a spiritual retreat to build the self; it is the act of leaving one’s personal house to be in the service of Allah and to recognize one’s self in the Mosque while at the same time, being a guest in the House of Allah. During Iʿtikāf, a person can stand, sit, sleep, etc.

and there is not one particular ‘form’ that this retreat must be carried out in (unlike the Salat which has a specific form to it). What is important during this period is to obey the commandments of Allah, to refrain from the things which He has prohibited (both in life in general and during this state), and to be in the service of Him.

Conditions of the Validity of Iʿtikāf There are a few conditions that need to be fulfilled by the person who wishes to partake in the special worship: Islam: Faith is a very important condition for the validity of the Iʿtikāf. That is to say, a non-Muslim can perform the I’tikaf and it may be correct from the point of view of the outer actions, however, to earn the Divine Reward, he or she must be a Muslim [6] .