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Itikaf and What It Means (Dr. Mansoor Alam, Toledo Ohio)

By admin | September 9, 2008

If you ask a Muslim about Itikaf this is what you are most likely to hear: Some Muslims spend the last ten days (or part of it) of the holy month of Ramadan in a mosque. They remove themselves from their families and the rest of the world in order to devote maximum time in prayer and the dhikr (remembrance) of Allah without any interference. They fast, eat and sleep in the mosque and do not leave its premises. The belief is that this increases Taqwa (piety) and results in closeness to God. Muslims doing Itikaf are not supposed to engage in worldly talks or have any discussion that deals with the problems of life facing the Muslim community, or the Muslim world in general. This is how we practice Itikaf. In support of this verse (2:187) is presented.The Qur’anic verse (2:187) only says that Aakifoon (i.e. those doing Itikaf) do not associate with wives while they are in the mosque. The words “Aakifoon” and “Aakifeen” from which the word Itikaf is derived appears in many other  places in the Qur’an (e.g., 2:125, 7:138, 20:91, 20:97, 21:52, 22:25, 26:71, 48:25). The root of these words is ‘a-k-f which means to stop something from spreading, e.g., to string pearls or to comb hair in order to stop them from scattering. Therefore, Itikaf means to find ways to solve the problems of the Muslim community so that it remains bound together and does not get divided or fractionalized. This shows how far we have drifted away from the original meaning and purpose of Itikaf. The ritual has remained but its spirit seems to have disappeared.

No one can deny that solving life’s problems requires a great deal of pondering and thinking and planning. The Prophet (pbuh) and his companions (r) faced problems and challenges constantly. There was no time for them to lead a kind of monastic life by removing themselves off from the community and its problems. They had to find ways to tackle the challenges facing them every day. That is what they were engaged in, more or less, on a daily basis. However, they also had to deal with the short and long term problems of the community. Itikaf was for them a kind of retreat for focusing on the most serious challenges and to chart out the best ways to lead the community in the light of the Qur’an. For this some of them spent the last ten days of Ramadan away from their families in a mosque since the mosque used to be the center of all (including social and political) life of the Muslim community those days. This is how they practiced Itikaf.

The holy month of Ramadan provides an excellent opportunity for Muslims to resolve their problems and differences since this month reflects the community spirit and togetherness more than any other month. After going two-thirds through this month practicing self-restraint, self-control and self-discipline most Muslims are naturally in a higher state of spiritual consciousness. This therefore provides a perfect opportunity for some members of the Muslim community to go even further and spend the remaining one-third of this month in a mosque and devote themselves fully to solving the community’s problems. That is, they should spend their time in figuring out ways to stop Muslims form being divided and fractionalized along with praying and doing the dhikr of Allah. That would be the best way to practice Itikaf. As Iqbal, the poet philosopher and one of the great thinkers of Islam says:

Agar na sahl hoN tujh par zameeN ke hangamay;

Buree hai masti-e andeshaa haa-e aflaakee

If you are not prepared to deal with the chaos of the Earth;

Then it is bad to be absorbed in pondering about the Heaven

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