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 last ten 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. Itikaf is a total retreat conducted during the last ten days of Ramadhan. In Itikaf one is totally cut off from these pursuits. One retires from the human world and enters the world of God. The contact that the believer thus establishes with God should remain with him throughout his life. This is what the Prophet termed “zuhd” or detachment from the world and has been made obligatory in the form of fasting during the month of Ramadan.

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)