Dear respected Shaykh, assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is the ruling if a person who is making i’tikaaf goes out to perform prayer in another mosque? ما حكم خروج المعتكف للصلاة في مسجد آخر؟

Praise be to Allah, and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family and his companions.   Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.   As to what follows:   In response to your question, we say:         I’tikaaf means staying in the mosque for the obedience of Allah, and this is how it was defined by the scholars. Thus a person should not leave the mosque except for a necessity and this is why it has been transmitted in an authentic narration by ‘Aishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not leave the mosque except for a necessary reason.  However, the scholars unanimously agreed that a person can go outside the mosque for a necessary reason like answering the call of nature, ablution, bathing, food, changing clothes, and for necessary things which he cannot do inside the mosque. If he goes out for reasons besides these, then the principle is that such an action is prohibited, because this contradicts the reason for which he made i’tikaaf, or it contradicts the reality of the i’tikaaf that he has started to engage in. Therefore, if a person goes out of the mosque to  perform prayer in another mosque, then his i’tikaaf is invalidated, because this is not a necessary issue and he can perform prayer in the mosque that he is staying in. This why the scholars  (may Allah have mercy on them) said that it is recommended to perform i’tikaaf in a mosque where the five daily prayers are performed. Their reason for stating that it is recommended to do so is to ensure that the person in i’tikaaf does not go out repeatedly