should be referred back to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) however it may be. Sa'id narrated: Hushaym related to us, Juwaybir (9) related to us, from Al-Dahhak, from Hudhayfah, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Every mosque that has an Imam and a Muezzin, I'tikaf therein is valid" (10). This is because His saying, the Exalted: "...while you are observing I'tikaf in the mosques" (11) entails the permissibility of I'tikaf in every mosque, except that it is restricted by reports and the meaning we have mentioned to those in which congregation is performed; thus, in what is other than that, it remains under the generality. Al-Shafi'i's opinion in stipulating a place where Friday prayer is performed is not valid, due to the [aforementioned] reports, and because the Friday prayer does not recur [frequently], so the obligation of leaving for it does not cause harm, just as [it would not] if a woman performed I'tikaf for a period during which her days of menstruation occurred. If a congregational mosque were such that only the Friday prayer was held therein and no other prayer was prayed in it, I'tikaf would not be permissible therein. It is valid according to Malik and Al-Shafi'i. The basis of the disagreement is that congregation is obligatory according to us, so he is committed to leaving his place of I'tikaf for it, thus his I'tikaf becomes invalid; whereas according to them, it is not obligatory.

Section: If his I'tikaf is for a period that does not coincide with the prayer time, such as a night or part of a day, it is permissible in any mosque due to the absence of any preventive factor. If [congregational prayer] is performed therein at some times, I'tikaf is permissible therein during that time but not otherwise. If the one performing I'tikaf is someone upon whom congregation is not mandatory, such as a sick person, one with a valid excuse, or someone who is in a village where no one but him prays, his I'tikaf is permissible in any mosque, because congregation is not mandatory for him, so he is like a woman. If two people perform I'tikaf in a mosque where congregation is not held, and they establish the congregation therein, their I'tikaf is valid because they have established the congregation, so it is similar to the case where others established it therein.