Itikaaf For Sisters

I'll look for proof, but this is the view of all the pakistani ulema/books I've seen, or talked to and not just Mufti Desai. Just this morning I read the same in Taleem ul-Islaam, a very baby level fiqh book. It doesn't offer adillah, though.

I looked it up in Hidayah and it says: and (narrated) from Abu Hanifa Rahimahullah: I'tikaaf cannot be done except in a masjid where the 5 salawaat are prayed, because it (I'tikaaf) is the Ibadat of waiting for Salat, and so is specific to the place where they (the salawaat) are offered. As for a woman, she does I3tikaaf in the masjid of her home, because that is the place where she prays, so her waiting there is correct. And if she doesn't have a masjid in the house, she (should) make a place where she will do I'tikaaf.

This is a quote from Imaam Abu Hanifa. So this is apparently the correct Hanafi position. Islamqa, however is not Hanafi and their opinion differs, which does not mean they are wrong. However Hanafis should follow Hanafi fatawa.

PS. Sorry, if my translation is choppy. The original is in Arabic. If somebody wants, I can scan it for them.

It is not correct for a woman to observe i’tikaaf in her house

Can a woman observe itikaf at home , what if she has to cook.

Praise be to Allaah.

I’tikaaf is only valid if done in the mosque, because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And do not have sexual relations with them (your wives) while you are in I‘tikaaf (i.e. confining oneself in a mosque for prayers and invocations leaving the worldly activities) in the mosques”

[al-Baqarah 2:187]

Men and women are equal in this regard.

Ibn Qudaamah said in al-Mughni:

A woman has the right to observe i‘tikaaf in any mosque, and that is not subject to the condition that it be a mosque where prayers are performed in congregation, because that is not obligatory upon her. This was the view of al-Shaafa’i.

She does not have the right to observe i'tikaaf in her house, because Allaah says “while you are in I‘tikaaf (i.e. confining oneself in a mosque for prayers and invocations leaving the worldly activities) in the mosques”, and because the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked him for permission to observe i’tikaaf in the mosque, and he gave them permission.

Al-Nawawi said in al-Majmoo’ (6/480):

It is not correct for a man or a woman to observe i'tikaaf anywhere except in the mosque.

This is the view favoured by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen in al-Sharh al-Mumti’, 6/513

And Allaah knows best.
Islam Q&A

Um, I don't mean to critique a learned scholar but this fatwa does not appear to me to be as solidly based in Quran and hadith as it looks like. The Ayat that they gave does not show that men and women are equal in this regard, especially as it addresses men; Imaam Shafee's statement seems a little vague, because if a mosque just means a place of prayer, and not a place where congregational prayer is offered, that could just as easily be a place in somebody's home; and the hadith where the Nabi SAWS gave permission is not given. The only offered evidence that this fatwa is based on is Imaam Nawai's statement.

There may be other evidence that the scholar based his answer on and did not give. I'm not saying that the fatwaa is wrong, just that the evidence offered is inconclusive.