Tag: Q n A, Bukhari

Safiya, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ) told me that she went to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) to visit him in the mosque
while he was in I`tikaf in the last ten days of Ramadan. She had a talk with him for a while, then she
got up in order to return home. The Prophet (ﷺ) accompanied her. When they reached the gate of the
mosque, opposite the door of Um-Salama, two Ansari men were passing by and they greeted Allah’s
Apostle . He told them: Do not run away! And said, “She is (my wife) Safiya bint Huyai.” Both of
them said, “Subhan Allah, (How dare we think of any evil) O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)!” And they felt it. The
Prophet said (to them), “Satan reaches everywhere in the human body as blood reaches in it,
(everywhere in one’s body). I was afraid lest Satan might insert an evil thought in your minds.”

I asked Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri, “Did you hear Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) talking about the Night of Qadr?” He
replied in the affirmative and said, “Once we were in I`tikaf with Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) in the middle ten
days of (Ramadan) and we came out of it in the morning of the twentieth, and Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)delivered
a sermon on the 20th (of Ramadan) and said, ‘I was informed (of the date) of the Night of
Qadr (in my dream) but had forgotten it. So, look for it in the odd nights of the last ten nights of the
month of Ramadan. I saw myself prostrating in mud and water on that night (as a sign of the Night of
Qadr). So, whoever had been in I`tikaf with Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) should return for it.’ The people returned
to the mosque (for I`tikaf). There was no trace of clouds in the sky. But all of a sudden a cloud came
and it rained. Then the prayer was established (they stood for the prayer) and Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)
prostrated in mud and water and I saw mud over the forehead and the nose of the Prophet.

One of the wives of Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) practiced I`tikaf with him while she ad bleeding in between her
periods and she would see red (blood) or yellowish traces, and sometimes we put a tray beneath her
when she offered the prayer.

The wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) were with him in the mosque (while he was in I`tikaf) and then they
departed and the Prophet (ﷺ) said to Safiya bint Huyai, “Don’t hurry up, for I shall accompany you,” (and
her dwelling was in the house of Usama). The Prophet (ﷺ) went out and in the meantime two Ansari men
met him and they looked at the Prophet (ﷺ) and passed by. The Prophet (ﷺ) said to them, “Come here. She is
(my wife) Safiya bint Huyai.” They replied, “Subhan Allah, (How dare we think of evil) O Allah’s
Apostle! (we never expect anything bad from you).” The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “Satan circulates in the
human being as blood circulates in the body, and I was afraid lest Satan might insert an evil thought in
your minds.”

Safiya went to the Prophet (ﷺ) while he was in I`tikaf. When she returned, the Prophet (ﷺ) accompanied her
walking. An Ansari man saw him. When the Prophet (ﷺ) noticed him, he called him and said, “Come
here. She is Safiya. (Sufyan a sub-narrator perhaps said that the Prophet (ﷺ) had said, “This is Safiya”).
And Satan circulates in the body of Adam’s offspring as his blood circulates in it.”
(A sub-narrator asked Sufyan, “Did Safiya visit him at night?” He said, “Of course, at night.”)

We practiced I`tikaf with Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) in the middle ten days (of Ramadan). In the morning of the
twentieth (of Ramadan) we shifted our baggage, but Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) came to us and said, “Whoever
was m I`tikaf should return to his place of I`tikaf, for I saw (i.e. was informed about the date of) this
Night (of Qadr) and saw myself prostrating in mud and water.” When I returned to my place the sky
was overcast with clouds and it rained. By Him Who sent Muhammad with the Truth, the sky was
covered with clouds from the end of that day, and the mosque which was roofed with leafstalks of
date palm trees (leaked with rain) and I saw the trace of mud and water over the nose of the Prophet (ﷺ)
and its tip.

Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) used to practice I`tikaf every year in the month of Ramadan. And after offering the
morning prayer, he used to enter the place of his I`tikaf. `Aisha asked his permission to let her practice
I`tikaf and he allowed her, and so she pitched a tent in the mosque. When Hafsa heard of that, she also
pitched a tent (for herself), and when Zainab heard of that, she too pitched another tent. When, in the
morning, Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) had finished the morning prayer, he saw four tents and asked, “What is
this?” He was informed about it. He then said, “What made them do this? Is it righteousness? Remove
the tents, for I do not want to see them.” So, the tents were removed. The Prophet (ﷺ) did not perform
I`tikaf that year in the month of Ramadan, but did it in the last ten days of Shawwal.

`Umar bin Al-Khattab said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! I vowed in the Pre-Islamic period to perform I`tikaf in
Al-Masjid-al-Haram for one night.” The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Fulfill your vow.” So, he performed I`tikaf for
one night.

that `Umar had vowed in the Pre-Islamic period to perform I`tikaf in Al-Masjid-al-Haram. (A subnarrator
thinks that `Umar vowed to perform I`tikaf for one night.) Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said to `Umar,
“Fulfill your vow.”

The Prophet (ﷺ) used to perform I`tikaf every year in the month of Ramadan for ten days, and when it was
the year of his death, he stayed in I`tikaf for twenty days.