ITIKAF: A SPIRITUAL RETREAT
Fasting means withdrawing from worldly attachments. This reaches a climax during Itikaf. Itikaf is a very special practice, marking the closure of the blessed month of Ramadan. Observers of this practice are required to stay in a mosque for ten days or less, during the last ten days of Ramadan.
Itikaf means going into seclusion for the purpose of concentration. In the final days of fasting, when a Muslim is more spiritually prepared and more awakened, he goes into seclusion in the environment of a mosque, freeing his mind of the activities of this world. In spiritual terms, it is meditation; in intellectual terms, it is contemplation.
Abu Hurairah reported: “The Prophet used to observe itikaf every year (during Ramadan) for ten days; in the year in which he passed away, he observed itikaf for twenty days.”(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 2044)
The purpose of itikaf is to engage in muhasaba, which means introspection. During this practice, one finds time to reflect on one’s life, one’s past and present, and what course to follow in the future. The ten-day period of itikaf requires a person to undergo overhauling in the spiritual sense.
During Itikaf one distances completely from the world and turns to God, undertakes introspection and reads the Quran more deeply to understand its message. This practice is like taking a spiritual bath by making oneself a more awakened person.
During itikaf a Muslim tries to look at himself in the divine mirror. When a person goes into itikaf and studies the Quran in seclusion, he discovers the Quran again with reference to the new situations he may be facing. This practice keeps the Muslim intellectually alive. In this way, itikaf enables a Muslim to evaluate his response towards each new situation and update his life accordingly.
Itikaf means increasing one’s spiritual experiences on a larger scale. Both Ramadan and itikaf are similar, but with a difference. Where fasting during Ramadan is a routine experience, going into itikaf makes it an extraordinary experience, ensuring a heightened spiritual preparedness for the moral challenges of life.
If fasting is a spiritual experience, itikaf is spiritual retreat, designed to enable the rebuilding of self. Ramadan is meant to foster this spiritual transformation and itikaf enhances this process during the period of retreat.
