✿ Fasting Is Not a Condition for Iʿtikāf ✿
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
This is supported by previous ḥadīths, as fasting is not observed during the night, yet iʿtikāf is valid during that time.
✔ This is the view held by Imām al-Shāfiʿī and Imām Aḥmad رحمهما الله.
Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله also preferred this opinion.
The stronger view is that iʿtikāf is valid without fasting, but it is preferable and more complete with fasting.
[Al-Lubāb fī ʿUlūm al-Kitāb – Tafsīr al-Qurʾān: 3/319]
Imām al-Shawkānī رحمه الله affirmed the correctness of Imām al-Shāfiʿī’s opinion,
[Nayl al-Awṭār: 3/255]
and Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān رحمه الله also upheld the same.
[Al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 1/573]
There is a narration from ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها:
ولا اعتكاف إلا بصوم
“There is no iʿtikāf without fasting.”
[Ḥasan Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 2160, Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb al-Muʿtakif Yaʿūd al-Marīḍ; also Abū Dāwūd: 2473]
However, scholars consider it more appropriate to classify this statement as mauqūf — i.e., a statement of ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها, not the Prophet ﷺ.
[Al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 1/572]
✍ Written by: Imran Ayyub Lahori
❖ Fasting Is Not a Condition for the Validity of Iʿtikāf
This is supported by previous ḥadīths, as fasting is not observed during the night, yet iʿtikāf is valid during that time.
✔ This is the view held by Imām al-Shāfiʿī and Imām Aḥmad رحمهما الله.
Ibn Qudāmah رحمه الله also preferred this opinion.
❖ Opposing View: Fasting Is Required for Iʿtikāf
- Imām Mālik and Imām Abū Ḥanīfah رحمهما الله considered fasting a necessary condition for iʿtikāf.
[Al-Umm: 2/148; Al-Ḥāwī: 3/486; Al-Hidāyah: 1/132; Al-Mabsūṭ: 3/115; Bidāyat al-Mujtahid: 1/220] - Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله also supported the opinion that fasting is a condition.
[Nayl al-Awṭār: 3/255]
❖ Preferred (Rājiḥ) Opinion
The stronger view is that iʿtikāf is valid without fasting, but it is preferable and more complete with fasting.
[Al-Lubāb fī ʿUlūm al-Kitāb – Tafsīr al-Qurʾān: 3/319]Imām al-Shawkānī رحمه الله affirmed the correctness of Imām al-Shāfiʿī’s opinion,
[Nayl al-Awṭār: 3/255]and Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān رحمه الله also upheld the same.
[Al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 1/573]❖ Ḥadīth: “There Is No Iʿtikāf Without Fasting”
There is a narration from ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها:
ولا اعتكاف إلا بصوم
“There is no iʿtikāf without fasting.”
[Ḥasan Ṣaḥīḥ: Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 2160, Kitāb al-Ṣiyām: Bāb al-Muʿtakif Yaʿūd al-Marīḍ; also Abū Dāwūd: 2473] However, scholars consider it more appropriate to classify this statement as mauqūf — i.e., a statement of ʿĀ’ishah رضي الله عنها, not the Prophet ﷺ. [Al-Rawḍah al-Nadiyyah: 1/572]
