The Philosophy of Itikaf
Where else to be than to be in the company of God
Source : https://www.shutterstock.com
If our hard work wins the pleasure of Allah, there is no greater blessing than this. We should connect our hearts with Allah in such a way that one does not feel the need of reaching out to someone else. That is what Itikaf does for a Muslim in particular and human being in general.
Source : https://www.shutterstock.com
The word Itikaf is used in the Holy Quran in different forms such as aakifun or al aakifeen it means confinement to a specific thing or place, or retreat and seclusion, but for a Muslim it means to confine oneself for sometime to a mosque in order to stay there to worship or at least to withdraw oneselffrom worldly business.
Prophet Muhammad(SAW) used to perform Itikaf even before receiving the message. He was in seclusion in the cave of Hira when he received the message for the first time. While coming back from the cityof Ta'if, he again performed this practice as Messenger in that same cave. He used to fast in Mecca even before the fasting in Ramadan became a binding. After fasting in Ramadan became a obligatory, he used to perform Itikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan in the mosque. In the last year of his life, he did it for thirty days and nights.