I wanted to ask about Itikaf i.e under what category does it fall. Is it Sunnah, Sunnah-e-moekeda e.t.c. According to what i have been told it is Fard -e-Kafia i.e. if a few people from the society don’t perform it then all the people in the society would be sinful. Therefore, i wanted to confirm whether this is true and if so then could you please provide references where it states itikaf to be fard-e-kafia, because some one is arguing that it is not and it is only an act of virtue and is left (even by all the people in the society) then one would not be sinful.
Another question that i have is that, i have been told that hairs that fall off the beard, one has to be careful about them because it is a sunnah and should aviod them to fall in draines e.t.c. Is this true? because the problem is that alot my hairs from the beard fall even when i do wudu and it becomes difficult to gather them and in case if its true then what should one do with these hair i.e how to dispose them
Answer:
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh
1)The status of I’tikaf during the last ten days of Ramadhan is that it is sunnah mu’akkadah ala al-kifaya i.e. ifone person from the city performs I’tikaf, the responsibility will be waived from all the inhabitants of that city. However, if no one in the city performs I’tikaf, the entire city will be sinful.
انظرالإنصاففيحكمالاعتكافللإمامعبدالحياللكنوي
فتحاللهالمعينعلىشرحالكنزلملامسكين (ج 1/ ص451)
إلاأنهسنةكفايةمشىعليهافيشرحمواهبالرحمنمعللابإجماععدمملامةبعضأهلبلدإذاأتىبهبعضمنهمفيالعشرالأخيرمنرمضانبرهان
الدرالمنتقى (ج1 / ص255)
(هوسنةمؤكدة) فيالعشرالأخيرمنرمضانأيسنةكفايةبهصرحصاحبالبرهان
البحرالرائق – (ج 2 / ص 299)
أماالأولفهوالسنيةوهكذافيكثيرمنالكتبوفيالقدوريالاعتكافمستحبوصححفيالهدايةأنهسنةمؤكدةوذكرالشارحأنالحقانقسامهإلىثلاثةأقسامواجبوهوالمنذوروسنةوهوفيالعشرالأخيرمنرمضانومستحبوهوفيغيرهمنالأزمنة
بدائعالصنائع – (ج 2 / ص 273)
أماالأولفالاعتكاففيالأصلسنةوإنمايصيرواجبابأحدأمرينأحدهماقولوهوالنذرالمطلقبأنيقولللهعليأنأعتكفيوماأوشهراأونحوذلكأوعلقهبشرطبأنيقولإنشفىاللهمريضيأوإنقدمفلانفللهعليأنأعتكفشهراأونحوذلك
فتحالقدير – (ج 2 / ص 304)
بابالاعتكاف ) قالالقدوري ( الاعتكافمستحب ) قالالمصنف ( والصحيحأنهسنةمؤكدة ) والحقخلافكلمنالطريقين،بلالحقأنيقال : الاعتكافينقسمإلىواجبوهوالمنذورتنجيزاأوتعليقا،وإلىسنةمؤكدةوهواعتكافالعشرالأواخرمنرمضان،وإلىمستحبوهوماسواهما .
2)Whilst making wudhu one should exercise precaution that strands of hair from his beard should not fall off. If after exercising precaution, if strands of hair fall off then it is hoped that he will be excused.
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
Ml. Ishaq E. Moosa,
Student Darul Iftaa
Checked and Approved by:
Mufti Ebrahim Desai
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In’aamiyyah