Itikaf

Itikaf is the devotional retreat of withdrawing into a mosque for a set period, cutting off ordinary affairs to devote the time to prayer, recitation of the Qur'an, remembrance and reflection. The one in retreat remains within the mosque, leaving only for necessities, and gives the interval wholly to worship. Though it may be undertaken at any time, it is most strongly associated with the last ten nights of Ramadan, when the Prophet Muhammad is reported to have kept it every year, and to have redoubled his devotion within it.

The retreat is aimed above all at seeking the Laylat al-Qadr, the Night of Power hidden among the odd nights of Ramadan's final third, which the Qur'an declares better than a thousand months. By secluding themselves the devout hope to meet that night in a state of undistracted worship. Itikaf is classed as a strongly recommended act, becoming binding only if vowed, and in the last ten nights of Ramadan it is treated in the tradition as a communal sunnah that at least some of a locality should keep.

Whether and how women may perform itikaf has become one of the more actively discussed questions in contemporary Islamic practice, precisely because classical jurisprudence addressed it under conditions, extended family compounds and different norms of gender-segregated space, that have changed considerably since. The historically dominant Hanafi position directed women to observe itikaf in a designated place of prayer within their own home rather than in a mosque, reflecting both concern for propriety in a mixed public space and the practical reality that many mosques historically had no provision for accommodating women staying overnight for an extended period.

Contemporary practice across much of the Muslim world has moved toward including women in mosque-based itikaf directly, and a number of large mosques, particularly in Gulf states, Malaysia and parts of South Asia, now organise dedicated sections, sometimes entire separate floors or annexes, specifically to host women observing the last ten nights of Ramadan in seclusion within the mosque itself, treating the earlier restriction as a product of inadequate facilities rather than a permanent legal requirement.

Scholars who support this shift generally argue that the underlying Quranic basis for itikaf, seclusion in the mosques mentioned in Surah al-Baqarah, makes no distinction by sex, and that the historical restriction reflected available infrastructure rather than the ruling itself, while more traditionalist voices continue to prefer the older Hanafi guidance, which makes the question a live and unresolved one rather than a settled matter across the Muslim world today.