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Ruling 1731

ix. A muʿtakif must refrain from doing the unlawful acts of iʿtikāf.

Someone who is performing iʿtikāf must refrain from doing the unlawful acts of iʿtikāf, which are as follows:

  1. smelling a pleasant fragrance;
  2. having sexual intercourse with one’s spouse;
  3. masturbating, having sexual contact with one’s spouse by means of touching, and lustfully kissing (based on obligatory precaution);
  4. disputing (mumārāh) and arguing (mujādalah) with others;
  5. buying and selling.

Doing these things invalidates one’s iʿtikāf. In the case of an iʿtikāf that is not an assigned obligation [i.e. it is not al‐wājib al‐muʿayyan],5 the obligation to refrain from these things – apart from having sexual intercourse – is based on obligatory precaution.6

5 An assigned obligation is an act of worship that must be performed at one distinct time. One way that an iʿtikāf could become an assigned obligation is by means of a vow.

6 This means that, with regard to an iʿtikāf that is not an assigned obligation, the obligation to refrain from having sexual intercourse is a fatwa, whereas the obligation to refrain from the other things is based on obligatory precaution (see Ruling 6 for the distinction between a fatwa and a ruling based on obligatory precaution). As for an iʿtikāf that is an assigned obligation, the obligation to refrain from these things is a fatwa.