Definition: A spiritual retreat in a mosque (masjed), usually performed during the last ten days of Ramadan. A person "making i'tikaf" will spend the evening and night in the mosque, devoting his or her time to worship and reading the Qur'an.
In many mosques, i'tikaf is done as a group. A large group of people from the community gathers together for worship throughout the night, eats suhoor together, and then leaves from the masjed after fajr (morning) prayers.
In many mosques, i'tikaf is done as a group. A large group of people from the community gathers together for worship throughout the night, eats suhoor together, and then leaves from the masjed after fajr (morning) prayers.
Pronunciation: i'tikaf (' stands for a gutteral stop, an Arabic sound that does not exist in the English language)
Also Known As: retreat
Alternate Spellings: itikaf, iktikaf
Examples:
During the last ten days of Ramadan, many people were at the masjed performing i'tikaf.
