Mālik and al-Shāfi'i stated: the individual performing I'tikāf should not leave the masjid to visit the sick, nor to attend a funeral; this is the view 'Aṭā and

Another group (of scholars) held that the individual performing i'tikāf is permitted to attend the Friday prayer, visit the sick and attend the funeral; this was reported from 'Ali bin Abī Tālib (may Allāh be pleased with him), and it is the opinion of Sa'īd bin Jubayr, al-Hasan al-Basri and an-Nakha'i. Al-Mundhiri said: it was narrated by al-Bukhari, Muslim, at-Tirmidhi, an-Nasa'i, and Ibn Majah." End quote. From this, it is understood that leaving for tarawīh prayers is not a legitimate excuse nor a legislative reason for leaving the place of i'tikāf, and doing so invalidates it. A questioner may ask: what are the legitimate solutions for the one who desires to leave the masjid for something not essential? Here are some of them: • He intends to perform the i'tikāf until after tarawīh or the time of tahajjud, then he leaves, as there is no fixed minimum time for i'tikāf. An-Nawawi (may Allāh have mercy on him) said in al-Majmu' (6/514): "As for the minimum duration of i'tikāf: the correct view, which the majority have definitively stated, is that remaining in the masjid is a condition, and that a lot of it and a little of it are permissible, even an hour, or a moment." • He stipulates leaving for tahajjud in a masjid other than the masjid where he is performing i'tikāf, or for another interest, before beginning his i'tikāf. Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymīn (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his explanation (6/523): "And it is known from his statement: 'Unless he stipulates it' that it is permissible to stipulate a condition at the beginning of the i'tikāf, thus if he intends to enter the i'tikāf, he says: 'I make the exception, O Lord, visiting the sick or attending a funeral', but this is inappropriate, and preserving the i'tikāf is more suitable, unless the sick person or the one who is expected to die has a right upon him, then stipulating a condition is better here, such as if the sick person is from his relatives, whose lack of visitation is considered severing ties of kinship, then in these circumstances he should stipulate an exception. Likewise attending the funeral, there is no problem in stipulating leaving for an act of worship, or for a permissible matter that he requires." These are some legislative solutions; whosoever peforms them or desires to undertake them must know that, although he may be considered among those performing i'tikāf with the mentioned solutions, he will not attain the prescribed i'tikāf that was narrated from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in the last ten days of Ramadān. And Allāh is the Most High and the Most Knowing. Abū 'Aṭiyah 21st Ramadan 1446