Albani: I'tikaf Only Valid in the Three Mosques

 بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

يَا نَبِي سَلَام عَلَيكَ

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

Peace be upon you, O Prophet

I’tikaf is one of the most beautiful acts of worship in Islam, when someone secludes themself in the Mosque as a means of devotion to Allah.

وَاَنۡتُمۡ عٰکِفُوۡنَ ۙ فِی الۡمَسٰجِدِ

And you are doing i’tikaf in the Mosques

(Surah 2, Ayah 187)

Here the word Mosques is general, and is a proof that I’tikaf may be made at any proper Mosque in which the five daily Salah are established in congregation.

But Albani dissented from the consensus of the Four Schools in declaring that i’tikaf may only be made in the three holiest Mosques; Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Masjid an-Nabawi in Medina and Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem (Qiyamu Ramadan, p.36)

Once again, as in the matters of women saying talbiyah loudly, masah over sandals, obligation of ghusl on Jumu’ah, physically joining feet in congregational Salah, and forbidding women from gold jewelry, Albani has audaciously defied the consensus of the Four Schools, the established ruling of Sunni jurisprudence. 

His position on restricting i’tikaf to the three holy places of Islam results in potentially depriving billions of Muslims worldwide from the blessing and goodness of making i’tikaf in a mosque of their vicinity.

Practically, the bizarre legal opinions of Albani, and the proliferation of Salafism in general, are not having a good result of bringing the people nearer to Allah, which is a powerful indication that they are in serious error. In declaring so many acts of worship and goodness to be either innovative or invalid, Salafism has produced societies and communities that are spiritually barren. The invalidating of i’tikaf in any mosque except the three holy Mosques of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem is a prime example. Billions of Muslims do not have access to those sacred locations because they are too distant, and in the case of Masjid al-Aqsa in particular, because it is under de facto Zionist control. If they were to follow Albani’s absurd position, and these days a growing number of Muslims are following him, they would be deprived of the blessing and goodness of making i’tikaf, which is especially encouraged during Ramadan.