Q. Some people back home spend a number of nights and days during the last part of Ramadan in a mosque, spending the whole night in prayer, and they may also do so during the whole day. Nowadays, some women also do the same. Do you think that it is better for the women to stay at home looking after their children?
C.A.K. Koya, Alkhobar
A. Spending the last ten days of Ramadan in a mosque to devote oneself completely to worship, staying up most of the night, and sleeping little in the mosque itself, is a Sunnah. The Prophet used to do it, and so did some of his companions. It has been practiced ever since by many Muslims. So we cannot have ‘views’ on whether this is appropriate or not. It is a Sunnah, and anyone who does it in order to follow the Prophet’s example will, God willing, be richly rewarded by God.
Moreover, this Sunnah, which is called itikaf, is mentioned in the Qur’an, as God says: “Do not lie with them (i.e. your wives), skin to skin, when you are abiding in meditation in mosques.” (2: 187)
This statement also makes it clear that this Sunnah could be done in all mosques, but many scholars make it a condition that the mosque should be one where the Friday prayer is normally offered. However, women may do this Sunnah in any mosque, even if the Friday prayer is not held there, because she is not required to offer Friday prayers. Imam Al-Shafie makes it clear that a woman who wishes to perform this Sunnah may not do so at home. She has to be in a mosque. However, she is recommended to have a cover around the area where she stays in the mosque.
Whether it is preferable for a woman to stay at home, looking after her own children, is subject to the needs of her children and her own circumstances. There can be no rigid rule applicable to all women. If a woman has young children, and has no responsible and mature person to look after them in her absence, then she is better off looking after them, because this is her duty. She may not abandon a duty in order to perform a Sunnah.
Night worship on Fridays
Q. A group of people meet every Friday night in the mosque to recite the Qur’an, offer night worship and stay until the dawn prayer. When they have offered the dawn prayer, they depart. Is their practice recommended?
T.H. Samath, Makkah
A. No, their practice is certainly not recommended. In fact it runs contrary to the Prophet’s teachings. Abu Hurayrah quotes the Prophet as saying: “Do not single out the night of Friday for special night worship.” (Related by Muslim). This is a clear Hadith which shows that the practice of these people is the very thing the Prophet advised against. We need to remember that Friday counts as a day of Eid, and the Prophet has made it clear that it should not be singled out for voluntary fasting, unless one wishes to fast a day before it or a day after it. In the same way, Friday night may not be singled out for special prayer or tahajjud. Moreover, staying in the mosque for a whole day is recommended in the last ten days of Ramadan, but not on other days, unless it is something done once in a while.
Arab News Islam 30 December 2002
