I’tikaaf for Women (Hadith No. 1748)

Bismillah.

Hadith no. 1747 (below) is a repeat. Read it here.

Volume 3, Book 33, Number 252:

Narrated Abu Salama bin ‘Abdur-Rahman:

I asked Abu Said Al-Khudri (radiallaahu `anhu), “Did you hear Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) talking about the Night of Qadr?” He replied in the affirmative and said, “Once we were in Itikaf with Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) in the middle ten days of (Ramadan) and we came out of it in the morning of the twentieth, and Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) 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 Itikaf with Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) should return for it.’ The people returned to the mosque (for Itikaf). 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 Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) prostrated in mud and water and I saw mud over the forehead and the nose of the Prophet (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam).

Today’s Hadith:

Volume 3, Book 33, Number 253:

Narrated ‘Aisha (radiallaahu `anhaa):

One of the wives of Allah’s Apostle (sallallaahu `alayhi wasallam) practiced Itikaf 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.

Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

I’tikaaf is Sunnah for both men and women, because it was proven that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to observe i’tikaaf during Ramadaan, and finally he settled on i’tikaaf during the last ten days, and some of his wives used to observe i’tikaaf with him, then they observed i’tikaaf after he died. The place for i’tikaaf is the mosque in which prayers in congregation are performed.

The bleeding that’s mentioned in the above narration is istihadha, not menstruation. A woman suffering from istihadha may observe i`tikaaf in the masjid provided she takes measures to keep her clothes and the masjid area clean. Read more on it here.