Muwatta Malik: Chapter 19

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Urwa ibn az-
Zubayr from Amra bint Abd ar-Rahman that A'isha, the wife of the
Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,"When the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did
itikaf he would bring his head near to me and I would comb it. He
would only go into the house to relieve himself."

Yahya related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Amra bint Abd
ar-Rahman that when A'isha was doing itikaf she would only ask after
sick people if she was walking and not if she was standing still.

Malik said, "A person doing itikaf should not carry out
obligations of his, nor leave the mosque for them, nor should he help
anyone. He should only leave the mosque to relieve himself. If he were
able to go out to do things for people, visiting the sick, praying
over the dead and following funeral processions would be the things
with the most claim on his coming out."

Malik said, "A person
doing itikaf is not doing itikaf until he avoids what some one doing
itikaf should avoid, namely, visiting the sick, praying over the dead,
and entering houses, except to relieve himself."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had asked Ibn Shihab
whether someone doing itikaf could go into a house to relieve himself,
and he said, "Yes, there is no harm in that."

Malik said,
"The situation that we are all agreed upon here is that there is no
disapproval of anyone doing itikaf in a mosque where jumua is held.
The only reason I see for disapproving of doing itikaf in a mosque
where jumua is not held is that the man doing itikaf would have to
leave the mosque where he was doing itikaf in order to go to jumua, or
else not go there at all. If, however, he is doing itikaf in a mosque
where jumua is not held, and he does not have to go to jumua in any
other mosque, then I see no harm in him doing itikaf there, because
Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says, 'While you are doing itikaf in
mosques,' and refers to all mosques in general, without specifying any
particular kind."

Malik continued, "Accordingly, it is
permissiblefor a man to do itikaf in a mosque where jumua is not held
if he does not have to leave it to go to a mosque where jumua is
held."

Malik said, "A person doing itikaf should spend the
night only in the mosque where he is doing itikaf, except if his tent
is in one of the courtyards of the mosque. I have never heard that
someone doing itikaf can put up a shelter anywhere except in the
mosque itself or in one of the courtyards of the mosque.

Part
of what shows that he must spend the night in the mosque is the saying
of A'isha, 'When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, was doing itikaf, he would only go into the house to
relieve himself.' Nor should he do itikaf on the roof of the mosque or
in the minaret."

Malik said, "The person who is going to do
itikaf should enter the place where he wishes to do itikaf before the
sun sets on the night when he wishes to begin his itikaf, so that he
is ready to begin the itikaf at the beginning of the night when he is
going to start his itikaf. A person doing itikaf should be occupied
with his itikaf, and not turn his attention to other things which
might occupy him, such as trading or whatever. There is no harm,
however, if some one doing itikaf tells some one to do something for
him regarding his estate, or the affairs of his family, or tells
someone to sell some property of his, or something else that does not
occupy him directly. There is no harm in him arranging for someone
else to do that for him if it is a simple matter."

Malik
said, "I have never heard any of the people of knowledge mentioning
any modification as far as how to do itikaf is concerned. Itikaf is an
act of ibada like the prayer, fasting, the hajj, and such like acts,
whether they are obligatory or voluntary. Anyone who begins doing any
of these acts should do them according to what has come down in the
sunna. He should not start doing anything in them that the muslims
have not done, whether it is a modification that he imposes on others,
or one that he begins doing himself. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, practised itikaf, and the muslims know
what the sunna of itikaf is."

Malik said, "Itikaf and jiwar
are the same, and Itikaf is the same for a village-dweller as it is
for a nomad."

Yahya related to me from Malik that he had heard that al-Qasim
ibn Muhammad and Nafi, the mawla of Abdullah ibn Umar said, "You
cannot do itikaf unless you are fasting, because of what Allah, the
Blessed and Exalted, says in His Book, 'And eat and drink until the
white thread becomes clear to you from the black thread of dawn, then
complete the fast until night-time, and do not have intercourse with
them while you are doing itikaf in mosques,' (Sura 2 ayat 187). Allah
only mentions itikaf together with fasting."

Malik said,
"That is what we go by here."

Yahya related to me that Ziyad ibn Abd ar-Rahman said, "Malik
related to us from Sumayy, the mawla of Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman,
that Abu Bakr ibn Abd ar-Rahman was once doing itikaf and he would go
out to relieve himself in a closed room under a roofed passage in
Khalid ibn Walid's house. Otherwise he did not leave his place of
itikaf until he went to pray at the Id with the muslims."

Yahya related to me from Ziyad from Malik that he saw some of the
people of knowledge who, when they did itikaf in the last ten days of
Ramadan, would not go back to their families until they had attended
the Id al-Fitr with everybody.

Ziyad said that Malik said, "I
heard this from the people of excellence who have passed away, and it
is what I like most out of what I have heard about the matter."

Ziyad related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab from Amra bint Abd
ar-Rahman from A'isha that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, once wanted to do itikaf, and when he went off to
the place where he wanted to do itikaf he found some tents there,
which were A'isha's tent, Hafsa's tent, and Zaynab's tent. When he saw
them he asked about them and someone told him that they were the tents
of A'isha, Hafsa and Zaynab. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, said, "Do you think them devout?" Then he
left, and did not do itikaf until Shawwal, when he then did it for ten
days.

Malik was asked whether someone who went into a mosque to do
itikaf for the last ten days of Ramadan and stayed there for a day or
two but then became ill and left the mosque, had to do itikaf for the
number of days that were left from the ten, or not, and if he did have
to do so, then what month should he do it in, and he replied, "He
should make up whatever he has to do of the itikaf when he recovers,
whether in Ramadan or otherwise. I have heard that the Messenger of
Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, once wanted to do
itikaf in Ramadan, but then came back without having done so, and then
when Ramadan had gone, he did itikaf for ten days in Shawwal.

Some one who does itikaf voluntarily in Ramadan and some one who has
to do itikaf are in the same position regarding what is halal for them
and what is haram. I have not heard that the Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, ever did itikaf other than
voluntarily."

Malik said, that if a woman did itikaf and then
menstruated during her itikaf, she went back to her house, and, when
she was pure again she returned to the mosque, at whatever time it was
that she became pure. She then continued her itikaf from where she
left off. This was the same situation as with a woman who had to fast
two consecutive months, and who menstruated and then became pure. She
then continued the fast from where she had left off and did not delay
doing so.

Ziyad related to me from Malik from Ibn Shihab that the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to go to
relieve himself in houses.

Malik said, "Someone doing itikaf
should not leave for his parents' funeral or for anything else."

Malik said, "There is no harm in someone who is in itikaf
entering into a marriage contract as long as there is no physical
relationship. A woman in itikaf may also be betrothed as long as there
is no physical relationship. What is haram for someone in itikaf in
relation to his womenfolk during the day is haram for him during the
night."

Yahya said that Ziyad said that Malik said, "It is
not halal for a man to have intercourse with his wife while he is in
itikaf, nor for him to take pleasure in her by kissing her, or
whatever. However, I have not heard anyone disapproving of a man, or
woman, in itikaf getting married as long as there is no physical
relationship. Marriage is not disapproved of for someone fasting."

"There is, however, a distinction between the marriage of
someone in itikaf and that of someone who is muhrim, in that some one
who is muhrim can eat, drink, visit the sick and attend funerals, but
cannot put on perfume, whilst a man or woman in itikaf can put on oil
and perfume and groom their hair, but cannot attend funerals or pray
over the dead or visit the sick. Thus their situations with regard to
marriage are different."

"This is the sunna as it has come
down to us regarding marriage for those who are muhrim, doing itikaf,
or fasting.

Yahya related to me from Malik from Yazid ibn Abdullah ibn al-
Hadi from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Harith at-Taymi from Abu Salama ibn
Abd ar-Rahman that Abu Said al-Khudri said, "The Messenger of Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, used to do itikaf in the
middle ten days of Ramadan. One year he was doing itikaf 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 itikaf, he
said, 'Whoever has done i'tikaf with me should continue doing itikaf
for the last ten days. I saw a certain night and then I was made to
forget it. I saw myself prostrating the following morning in water and
clay. Look for it in the last ten days, and look for it on the odd
days.' "

Abu Said continued, "The sky poured with rain that
night and the mosque had a roof (made of palm fronds) and the mosque
was soaked. With my own eyes I saw the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, leave with traces of water and clay on
his forehead and nose, in the morning after the night of the twenty-
first."

Ziyad related to me from Malik from Hisham ibn Urwa from his
father that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, said, "Search for Laylat al-Qadr in the last ten days of
Ramadan."

Ziyad related to me from Malik from Abdullah ibn Dinar from
Abdullah ibn Umar that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, said. "Search for Laylat al-Qadr in the last seven
days."

Ziyad related to me from Malik from Abu'n Nadr, the mawla of Umar
ibn Ubaydullah, that Abdullah ibn Unays al-Juhani said to the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
"Messenger of Allah, I am a man whose house is a long way away. Tell
me one night so that I can stop my journey for it." The Messenger of
Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Stop on the
twenty-third night of Ramadan."

Ziyad related to me from Malik from Humayd at-Tawil that 'Anas
ibn Malik said, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, came out to us in Ramadan and said, 'I was shown a certain
night in Ramadan and then two men abused each other and it was taken
away. Look for it on the ninth and the seventh and the fifth.' "

Ziyad related to me from Malik from Nafi from Ibn 'Umar that
some of the companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, were shown Laylat al-Qadr in their sleep during
the last seven days. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, said, "I see that your visions agree about the last
seven days, so whoever is searching for it should do so in the last
seven days."

Ziyad related to me from Malik that he had heard a man he trusted
of the people of knowledge say, "The Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, was shown the lifespans of the people
(who had gone) before him, or what Allah willed of that, and it was as
if the lives of the people of his community had become too short for
them to be able to do as many good actions as others before them had
been able to do with their long lives, so Allah gave him Laylat al-
Qadr, which is better than a thousand months."

Ziyad related to me from Malik that he had heard that Said ibn
al-Musayyab used to say, "Whoever is present at isha on Laylat al-Qadr
has taken his portion from it."