Masalat Ishtirat al-Sawm fi al-Itikaf - dimn Athar al-Muallimi
- Author died
- 1386 AH
- Editions
- Dar Alam al-Fawa'id lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Masalat Ishtirat al-Sawm fi al-Itikaf (The Issue of Requiring Fasting for Spiritual Retreat) is a short legal treatise by the Yemeni scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (1312–1386 AH / 1894–1966 CE) examining whether fasting is a mandatory condition for the validity of i'tikaf (spiritual retreat in a mosque) .
Composition and Background
The treatise arose from a scholarly debate between al-Muallimi and the Zaydi scholar Salih ibn Muhsin al-Saylami regarding the legal requirement of fasting during i'tikaf . Al-Muallimi maintained the position of the newer Shafi'i school that fasting is not a prerequisite for i'tikaf unless one specifically vows to perform the retreat while fasting . Al-Saylami argued that Zaydi jurists obligate opponents of this condition to concede it by applying qiyas al-aks (argument by contrast or inverse analogy), contrasting the case of a vowed fast with that of vowed prayer . In response, al-Muallimi composed this work to evaluate the validity of this analogical deduction in light of legal theory (usul al-fiqh) and to assess the relevant textual proofs .
Content and Method
Al-Muallimi evaluates the hadiths transmitted regarding i'tikaf, their textual meanings, and the differences among scholars over their interpretation . He conducts a critical hadith analysis of the phrasing لا اعتكاف إلا بصوم ("There is no i'tikaf except with fasting"), investigating whether this addition is an interpolation (mudraj) from the speech of Ibn Shihab al-Zuhri or Aisha rather than an authentic Prophetic transmission .
He also refutes the argument that fasting is a condition because the Prophet ﷺ only performed i'tikaf while fasting, arguing that consistent practice demonstrates recommendation (istihbab) rather than obligation (wujub) . Furthermore, he cites reports indicating that the Prophet ﷺ observed i'tikaf during the first ten days of Shawwal, a period that includes the day of Eid al-Fitr, on which fasting is strictly prohibited, thereby demonstrating that i'tikaf can occur without fasting .
Manuscript and Publication
Al-Muallimi left the treatise without a formal title . The work survives in an autograph manuscript of four large pages held at the Library of the Holy Mosque of Mecca (Maktabat al-Haram al-Makki, MS 4676) . It was edited and published as the thirteenth treatise in volume 16 of the collected works edition Athar Abd al-Rahman ibn Yahya al-Muallimi al-Yamani .
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