Question:
Assalamoalaykum Shaikh, May Allah bless you and preserve you. I have a quick question regarding the hadith in Muslim as to why prophet asked his tent to be removed and did not do I’tikaf that year.
Barakallah feekum, Imran Akram, Virginia, USA
Answer:
Wa ʿalaykum al-salām wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh.
This ḥadīth narrated by ʿĀʾishah (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā) and recorded in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim offers a profound insight into the inner reality of iʿtikāf and the Prophetic concern for safeguarding the sincerity and objectives of worship. It is not merely a historical report, but a carefully preserved lesson in spiritual discipline and ethical prioritisation.
ʿĀʾishah relates that when the Prophet ﷺ intended to perform iʿtikāf during the last ten nights of Ramaḍān, his tent was erected in the mosque after he had prayed Fajr. Thereafter, Zaynab (raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhā) ordered her tent to be set up, and other wives of the Prophet ﷺ followed suit. When the Prophet ﷺ emerged after Fajr and saw several tents erected in the mosque, he remarked: “Āl-birra turidna?” “Is it righteousness that you are seeking?” He then ordered his own tent to be taken down, abandoned iʿtikāf for that Ramaḍān, and later observed it in the first ten days of Shawwāl.
The key to understanding this incident lies in recognising that the Prophet ﷺ did not object to the legality of women performing iʿtikāf, nor did he question the integrity or sincerity of his wives. On the contrary, the wives of the Prophet ﷺ did perform iʿtikāf with his permission, and this is well established. Their devotion and uprightness are beyond doubt. Rather, his concern was with the direction and purity of intention, and with the preservation of the essential spirit of iʿtikāf as an act of complete withdrawal from worldly and social engagements in order to turn wholly to Allah.
Iʿtikāf is not merely residing in a mosque, nor is it a collective or social activity. Its essence is inward and outward seclusion, where the slave disengages from all distractions, even lawful ones, to focus entirely on remembrance, prayer, reflection, and supplication. When multiple tents appeared, the situation outwardly changed. What began as solitary devotion now risked resembling mutual presence, quiet competition, or the transformation of iʿtikāf into a visible arrangement rather than a hidden act of devotion. Even if such motives were unintended, the Prophet ﷺ perceived the danger that the act could gradually drift away from its intended purpose.
His statement, “Is it righteousness that you are seeking?”, was therefore not a rebuke of intention but a gentle and penetrating reminder. It redirected attention from the outward form of worship to its inward reality. The Prophet ﷺ was teaching that righteousness does not lie in multiplying religious forms if their meanings are diluted, nor in engaging in acts of devotion that risk becoming performative or habitual rather than sincere.
The decision of the Prophet ﷺ to abandon iʿtikāf altogether that Ramaḍān is particularly striking. Iʿtikāf in the last ten nights is a highly emphasised Sunnah which he consistently observed. Yet, when its spirit was threatened, he chose to leave it rather than allow even a trace of compromise in its meaning. This establishes a foundational principle in worship: protecting sincerity and purpose takes precedence over persistence in outward performance.
At the same time, his later performance of iʿtikāf in the first ten days of Shawwāl shows that this was not abandonment due to negligence or displeasure with the act itself. Rather, it was a deliberate educational choice. By making it up later, he demonstrated both the value of consistency in worship and the permissibility of observing iʿtikāf outside Ramaḍān, while also reinforcing the lesson that worship must be aligned with its objectives at all times.
This ḥadīth thus teaches the Ummah that acts of worship are not evaluated solely by their legality or frequency, but by their alignment with the purposes for which they were legislated. When circumstances arise that undermine those purposes, restraint may itself become an act of devotion. The Prophet ﷺ, through this action, trained the hearts of believers to prioritise depth over display, sincerity over symbolism, and meaning over mere form.
