Introduction

Muḥammad ibn Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn was born in ʿUnayzah in the Qaṣīm region of Arabia in 1925 CE and died in 2001 CE. Trained under the great scholar ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿdī and later under ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Bāz, he became one of the most prolific and widely followed Ḥanbalī jurists of the twentieth century. His teaching career spanned decades, producing thousands of students across the Muslim world, and his recorded lessons and transcribed rulings cover nearly every domain of Islamic jurisprudence. Al-ʿUthaymīn was distinguished by a rare combination of methodological precision, accessibility of expression, and willingness to engage contemporary questions with classical tools. Works on specific acts of worship formed a substantial part of his output, and his treatment of iʿtikāf, the practice of secluding oneself in the mosque for the purpose of worship, is representative of his method at its most careful and practical.

Iʿtikāf is an act of worship with deep roots in the Prophetic Sunnah. The Prophet Muḥammad (peace be upon him) observed iʿtikāf regularly during the last ten nights of Ramaḍān, seeking the Night of Decree (Laylat al-Qadr), and his wives continued the practice after his death. This work examines the full legal framework governing iʿtikāf: whether it is obligatory or recommended, the minimum requirements for its validity, the conditions pertaining to the place (specifically which mosques are permissible), the duration, and the intention. It then addresses what the person in iʿtikāf is permitted to do, such as eating, sleeping, and maintaining necessary contact with family, and what is prohibited, such as leaving the mosque without necessity or engaging in intimate relations. Particular attention is given to differences of opinion among the four accepted schools of law, with evidence cited for each position and a reasoned conclusion offered where the author considers one position stronger.

The scholarly value of this work extends beyond its immediate practical utility. Al-ʿUthaymīn's treatment demonstrates how a contemporary jurist engages the classical heritage without either slavishly repeating its conclusions or casually discarding its frameworks. He cites the Qurʾān, the ḥadīth collections, and the positions of the Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Ḥanbalī scholars, subjecting each to textual scrutiny. This comparative approach makes the book useful for students of fiqh methodology as well as for practitioners seeking to understand why a given ruling takes the form it does, rather than simply accepting it on authority. The work has circulated widely in Arabic and in translation across Muslim communities that observe iʿtikāf, valued for the clarity and completeness it brings to an act of worship that many Muslims wish to perform correctly but find imperfectly explained in general works of jurisprudence.

Readers intending to perform iʿtikāf will find this work a reliable guide to fulfilling it in a manner consistent with the Prophetic Sunnah and the scholarly consensus. Those who follow a specific madhab should note where the author's conclusions differ from their school and consult a scholar from that tradition on points of particular personal importance. The text is also suitable for imams and mosque administrators who must answer questions from congregants about what is and is not permissible during a communal iʿtikāf, a context in which precise knowledge prevents both laxity and unnecessary hardship. Above all, readers should approach this material with the awareness that iʿtikāf is one of Islam's most concentrated expressions of devotion, a deliberate withdrawal from the ordinary world to orient the heart entirely toward God.