How can you draw closer to Allah in the last 10 nights of Ramadan? Do ‘Itikaf!

With the last ten nights only around the corner – you need to start getting serious about performing ‘Itikaf this year. If you have to make arrangements with work, school, family, whatever it might be – you really don’t want to miss out on this major Sunnah. ‘Itikaf means to devote yourself to worship by secluding yourself away from worldly desires and distractions in the Masjid. It was a practice of our Prophet (ﷺ), his companions, and pious who came after them. Anas bin Malik narrated:

“The Prophet (ﷺ) would perform ‘Itikaf during the last ten (nights) of Ramadan. One year he did not perform ‘Itikaf, so he performed ‘Itikaf for twenty (nights) in the following year.” (Tirmidhi)

Aisha reported:

“When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) decided to observe ‘Itikaf, he prayed in the morning and then went to the place of his ‘Itikaf, and he commanded that a tent should be pitched for him, and it was pitched…” (Muslim)

Remember, ’Itikaf must be performed by someone who is fasting and in the Masjid, and also you should refrain from going out for anything unnecessary. Narrated Aisha:

“The sunnah for one who is observing ‘Itikaf (in a mosque) is not to visit a patient, or to attend a funeral, or touch or embrace one’s wife, or go out for anything but necessary purposes. There is no ‘Itikaf without fasting, and there is no ‘Itikaf except in a congregational mosque. (Abu Dawood)

So start making preparations for these last ten nights to be spent in seclusion in one of the houses from the houses of Allah. #ReviveRamadan and I’ll see you in ‘Itikaf.