By Shaykh Mustafa Umar

“A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic” is one of the best and most widely used Arabic-English dictionaries in the world. Islamic Studies scholars who need a translation from Arabic to English often rely on it as their primary source for checking words. It is the first dictionary listed in the online Arabic Almanac hosted on ejtaal.net. Although Lane’s Lexicon is richer, the Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic is more usable and up to date.

The dictionary was primarily authored by Hans Wehr. It was published in German in 1952 (titled Arabisches Wörterbuch) and continues to be reprinted. Many people refer to it as “The Hans-Wehr Dictionary”. Most people don’t know, and probably don’t care, about the author of a highly technical work like a dictionary or a math workbook. That is because there is little room for a writer to insert their own ideas into such a text. The same is the case with this Arabic dictionary: there was no opportunity for Hans to insert his own personal bias into the dictionary. Nonetheless, it is interesting to know the author’s history and how the book came about.

A Nazi Project

Hans Wehr was born in 1909 in Germany. For his career he became an Arabist, focusing on Arabic language and culture. He joined the Nazi party in 1940 and wrote an essay convincing his government to ally with “the Arabs” against England and France by supporting his dictionary project. The Nazi government liked the idea and funded the dictionary. It would then be used to translate Adolf Hitler’s autobiography ‘Mein Kampf’ into proper Arabic using just the right words that resonate with Arabs.

Hitler died in 1945 and the Nazis surrendered a week later. Hans Wehr appeared before a denazification commission in 1947 and there is an entire file on him with the excuses he presented for himself. He was classified as a “Mitlaufer” (follower) and was ordered to pay 36.40 deutschmarks for “atonement” and legal costs for his trial. Hans was eventually freed, and his dictionary was finally published in 1952, seven years after the downfall of the Nazis. An English version of the dictionary was later published and was edited by J. Milton Cowan. Hans Wehr became professor at the University of Münster from 1957–1974 and died in 1981.

An Unacknowledged Jewish Contributor

Hedwig Klein was a Jewish woman born in Germany and was a naturalized German citizen. She eventually joined the University of Hamburg to study Islamic Studies, Semitic Studies, and English Philology. She was admired by her teachers who gave her the Arabic nickname shakkākah (a female skeptic) since she would ask so many questions.

She completed her PhD dissertation in 1937 preparing a critical edition of an Arabic manuscript on early Islamic history. Her PhD supervisor Rudolf Strothmann later called her dissertation “a worthy contribution to Islamic Studies” and it received the distinction of summa cum laude (with highest honors). However, a decree issued by the Minister for Education and National Culture on April 15, 1937 stated that Jews could no longer be allowed to attend doctoral examinations. She appealed the decision and managed to convince the heads of the university to grant her an exemption. On the list of graduates being considered it was written: “Hedwig Klein. Jew, admitted as an exception.”

Her thesis was scheduled to be printed in 1938. The PhD certificate was already printed but then a “senior government advisor” convinced the university to not issue the degree anymore. On the cover of her doctoral exam it was written: “No doctoral certificate issued: Jew.”

She began writing letters pleading for help. Her friend Carl Rathjens was an economic geographer and managed to get Klein a job as professor of Arabic in Bombay. She left Hamburg on August 19, 1939 heading towards British India. A few days later, the Germans invaded Poland, and the second World War began. The ship was ordered to return to Hamburg immediately.

Klein was stuck. Her former professor tried to help her by reaching out to Hans Wehr. She got the job to analyze modern Arabic literature for his dictionary project. She wrote down the meanings of Arabic words on slips of paper and mailed them to the editor’s office. She was paid 10 pfennigs for every entry and was praised for her “excellent quality”. Despite the great work, her former professor was told by someone working on the project on August 8, 1941: “Though of course it will be completely impossible for her to be credited as a contributor later.” Klein was saved from deportation for a few months because, as a project manager wrote, “unfortunately the number of Aryan contributors is not sufficient.”

But six months later, the university could not keep her any longer. On July 11, 1942, Klein was forced to leave Hamburg to the Auschwitz concentration camp. She did not survive. After the war, her friend Carl Rathjens managed to get 56 copies of her doctoral thesis printed. Despite being dead, on August 15, 1947, Hedwig Klein is officially declared a “Doctor of Philosophy”. On April 22, 2010, a brass plate inscribed with her name, along with other murdered Jewish academics, is placed outside the main buildings of the University of Hamburg.

Ethics of Using the Dictionary

Arguments have been made that a dictionary produced by Nazi Germany should be boycotted for various reasons. First, it was funded and produced for a Nazi agenda. Second, contributors like Dr. Klein are not properly credited. Third, Hans Wehr did join the Nazi party and therefore his name does not deserve to be referenced respectfully.

Do these reasons, and others, warrant a boycott? I do not think so, for the following reasons. First, boycotts are supposed to be functional and not just symbolic. Does boycotting the dictionary actually hurt the Nazi cause in any way, shape, or form now? No. Second, there is no Nazi ideology in the book at all. Third, the book was published seven years after the downfall of the Nazi party. It never accomplished its objective of a Mein Kampf translation or even got published in time. This means that non-Nazis saw great value in completing and publishing the work. Fourth, Hans was acquitted after paying a fine and was allowed to live as a free person. Perhaps he really changed his ways and regretted having joined the Nazi party. A court did not deem him a threat to society, so why should we continue to tarnish his name for what he might have done in the past? Lastly, Wehr did thank “Miss Dr Klein” in the foreward to the first edition in 1952, even though he failed to mention what happened to her. The 6^th edition, published in 2020, rectified this mistake and added information about her death in the Auschwitz camp.

There are many authors and books we may personally dislike but which are still useful for humanity in general. It is important to know the background of a book and its author, so we understand its historical context. It is not, however, necessary to boycott a useful book purely for symbolic reasons.

References

https://en.qantara.de/content/hedwig-klein-and-mein-kampf-the-unknown-arabist

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedwig_Klein

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Wehr

https://ejtaal.net/aa

Valentine’s day is also called the Feast of Saint Valentine. It is celebrated every year on February 14^th. Saint Valentine’s Day is not a public holiday in any country, although it is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion and the Lutheran Church.[1]

Origins

Christians who lived in Western Europe commemorated certain ‘holy’ people and initiated a special day for them. The Catholic Church would officially declare a certain person to be a ‘Saint’ if they met specific criteria. In the year 496 C.E. Pope Gelasius I decided that all Christians would honor the priest named Valentine of Rome who died on that day in the year 269 C.E.  He was imprisoned while trying to spread Christianity, and then was killed, so he was declared a martyr and later a saint. Saint Valentine’s day was celebrated as a feast for one thousand years by Christians.[2]

Evolution

Around the 14^th century, Saint Valentine’s Day started to turn into a celebration of romance and love. Couples would express their love for each other by sending flowers, sweets, and greeting cards. Someone later wanted to connect the story of Saint Valentine to romance so they made up a story. They said that when Valentine was in prison, he sent a love letter to his jailor’s daughter and signed it “your Valentine”. The fake story became popular and people began ending their love letters with “from your valentine”.[3] The earliest surviving valentine cards are from the 15^th century.

Stories like this are propagated as being factual by video producers like the History Channel and further pushed by companies like American Greetings to turn a greater profit. Another story invented later was that Valentine would cut out heart shapes from parchment and give them to persecuted Christians. This little cute lie helped establish the widespread use of hearts on Valentine’s Day.

Sometime later, Cupid joins the story. Cupid is the supposed son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. A myth is invented that any person who is shot by Cupid’s arrow is filled with uncontrollable desire. Cupid’s powers are similar, though not identical, to Kamadeva, the Hindu god of love. Cupid is shown with wings, supposedly because lovers are flighty and likely to change their minds. He is shown as a child because love is irrational. Cupid’s symbols are the arrow and torch because love wounds and inflames the heart. Although Valentine would have abhorred a false deity being associated with the day of his commemoration, as would Pope Gelasius I, Cupid nonetheless joined the celebration.

Furthermore, the romance and love that was being celebrated was usually not through the institution of marriage. Immoral practices became prevalent like men drawing the names of girls at random to couple with them. This custom was combated by priests, for example by Frances de Sales around 1600 C.E., and should be opposed by anyone who advocates for strong family values.

The Modern Era and Globalization

With the adoption of the printing press, handwritten love letters gave way to mass-produced greeting cards. By 1840, the number of valentine cards sent in the mail in England was over 400,000. In 1849, a writer in Graham’s American Monthly stated that “Saint Valentine’s Day…is becoming, nay it has become, a national holyday.” In 1868, the British chocolate company Cadbury created Fancy Boxes, a decorated box of chocolates, in the shape of a heart for Valentine’s Day. Boxes filled with chocolates quickly became associated with the day.

Today, in the UK, about half the population buys gifts for Valentine’s day, with £1.9 billion spent in 2015 alone. In America, the U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year.[4] In the United States, a Hallmark holiday is a celebration that exists mainly for commercial purposes. The name comes from Hallmark Cards, a privately owned American company, which profits from manufactured holidays through sales of greeting cards and other items. While the Hallmark corporation maintains it “can’t take credit for creating holidays”, the spread of this culture to other parts of the world often takes place in a similar manner.

Take Japan as a case in point. Valentine’s Day was introduced into the country by Morozoff Ltd in 1953 by promoting the idea that Japanese people should give heart shaped chocolates on that day. Other companies began to compete and promoted the same idea. It was adopted into the culture and now chocolate confectioneries make 70% of their business through Valentine’s Day annually. There was one major problem though: the initial advertising focused on women giving the chocolate to men. Within a few years the tradition caught on and many women felt obliged to give chocolates to their male co-workers. The gift became known as a giri-choko (義理チョコ), which means ‘obligation-chocolate’. The practice has been severely criticized for pressuring women to buy chocolate for their co-workers to avoid offending them. The situation got so bad that even a prominent competitor in 2018, Godiva Chocolatier, also criticized the practice of giving giri-choco with a full-page advertisement, calling for workplaces to ban it entirely. This shows that there may be several harmful side-effects to an apparently innocent holiday.

Concluding Thoughts

It is important for people to understand the origin of things. It is even more important to understand the benefits and harms of different aspects of our culture. Why should someone who doesn’t accept Valentine of Rome as a saint celebrate a day about him, even if the holiday evolved? Why would someone who rejects idolatry celebrate a day where Cupid, who is supposed to be a god, is assumed to play some role? Why allow corporations that primarily care about profits rather than the welfare of people to introduce and define important aspects of our culture? Why promote interesting, yet untrue, stories and pass them off as fact just to sell ‘history documentaries’ or greeting cards? Why uncritically import this culture into a region where it did not exist without considering the harmful side effects?

It is fine to have fun. There could be a local day established to remind people to show love to the ones they love. It could even be a week or a month. But it should not be based on lies and should not promote the destruction of healthy family values.

[Shaykh] Mustafa Umar

[1] The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates Saint Valentine’s Day on July 6 in honor of Saint Valentine.

[2] The evidence linking St. Valentine’s Day and the rites of the ancient Roman purification festival of Lupercalia appears to not be very convincing.

[3] In the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints, the feast day of Saint Valentine on February 14 was removed from the General Roman Calendar and relegated to particular (local or even national) calendars for the following reason: “Though the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient, it is left to particular calendars, since, apart from his name, nothing is known of Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14.” Since people love stories, many different ones were later invented about Valentine but contemporary records of who Valentine really was and what really happened were probably destroyed during the Great Persecution in 303 C.E.

[4] When the valentine-exchange cards made in school activities are included the figure goes up to 1 billion since it became part of the culture that students are encouraged to give one to their teachers.

Overview

Many Muslims throughout the world utilize websites and mobile apps to determine their prayer and fasting times. Hidden in the settings of these programs is an option to choose the ‘calculation method’ for the angle of Fajr and ʿIshā’. The app ‘pray watch’ for iOS is a good example showing eight different methods:

Most users of these applications, and even scholars, may be unaware what these numbers represent and which method to select. In fact, often people may never even notice the option to change the calculation method and just use the default preset for each program/app.

Some users might choose the country they live in, falsely assuming these calculations were meant for their specific region. So someone living in France may choose UOIF and another person living in America may choose ISNA. Yet another group of users might falsely assume that different calculation methods represent most scholars living in a specific country. So someone who trusts Egyptian scholars to be more accurate in their research on Islam may choose the Egyptian General Authority of Survey, even if they live in America, and another fellow American might choose the University of Islamic Sciences, Karachi if they think the scholars of Pakistan are more diligent and reliable. Both assumptions are completely unfounded.

The impact of these differences on the timing of the prayers can be very significant. At 20° for Fajr in Anaheim, California the time enters at 4:01 AM while using 12° results in 4:49 AM. That is a difference of almost an hour. In a region even further away from the equator like Vancouver, Canada the difference can reach almost two hours. It is important to understand how these angles came to be used and to what extent they accurately predict the correct timings of prayer.

Importance

Both prayer and fasting are pillars of Islam and therefore care must be taken to ensure they are performed properly. Knowing the correct time to start both these acts of worship is essential. If someone prayed before the entrance for the time of Fajr their prayer is considered invalid. Likewise, if someone kept eating after the entrance of Fajr time their fast is invalid. Therefore, utilizing these calculations presents a serious dilemma for those who take prayer and fasting seriously.

Part of the problem lies in the false assumption many people have, several scholars included, that using a fixed degree calculation in a particular region will yield an accurate prayer time. This presumption is built on the idea that technology has advanced so much today that we are able to precisely determine the timings of all prayers based on the angle of the sun above or below the horizon. Such a notion, however, is severely mistaken and based on an ignorance of how prayer times are actually determined in the first place.

How Prayer Times are Defined

The start time for the five daily prayers are summarized in the following chart:

During the time of the Prophet Muhammad people would observe the shadow of the sun or the amount of light in the sky to determine the prayer timings. As can be seen from the chart above, the timings for Ẓuhr, ʿAsr, and Maghrib are dependent on the position of the sun. This is more scientifically deterministic and can be calculated more accurately than dawn or dusk.[1] However, the timings for Fajr and ʿIshā’ are not directly dependent on the position of the sun but rather on the amount of light in the sky. That amount of light is not scientifically predictable for each location on Earth since it varies by season, altitude, location, geographical barriers, and other factors.

Definitions of Twilight and Solar Altitude

People are naturally interested in the amount of light that exists in the sky before and after sunset. This light is known as twilight and is produced by the reflection and scattering of sunlight towards the horizon of an observer on Earth. Determining the amount of twilight helps people decide when to turn on or turn off their street lights, and has many other uses. Scientists have categorized the amount of twilight that should exist into three distinct phases. Civil twilight [6 degrees] is the stage where the horizon is clearly visible at sea level and there is enough luminance to enable outdoor civil activity without the need for street lights. Nautical twilight [12 degrees] is when the horizon at sea level is no longer visible and altitudes cannot be determined by referring to the horizon. Astronomical twilight [18 degrees] indicates the change from night to day, and vice versa.

When calculating Fajr and ʿIshā’ prayer times, people use various degrees of the angle of the sun to approximate those times. Some have tried to align with the scientific definitions of various stages of twilight. However, all these calculations are misleading for determining prayer times because they do not align with the Islamic definitions of when Fajr prayer comes in, which is: when a line of light first appears and begins to spread across the horizon. Therefore, we should clearly differentiate between ‘Islamic dawn’ and ‘astronomical twilight’.

Factors that Affect Observation of Prayer Times

Observations of twilight at various locations on earth have made it clear that it is incorrect to assume a fixed degree calculation for the start of Fajr and ʿIshā’ prayers. The reported solar depression angle usually can fall anywhere between 12° to 18° [or even between 9° to 20°]. However, there are many factors that affect the timings of dawn and evening twilight:

• Season: Several observation reports in the same region have indicated that degrees of the sun below the horizon for Fajr and ʿIshā’ varies throughout the year.
• Latitude: Several observation reports indicate that the further away from the equator a location is, the more variance there will be.
• Altitude: Regions throughout the earth have different altitudes, and this affects the observation for twilight. Most calculations assume zero feet above sea level, resulting in inaccuracies. Even the time for sunset, which is much more deterministic than twilight, can be different in the same city depending on whether a person is on a hill or in a valley.[2] If that is the case for sunset, then the variation at twilight would likely be even greater.
• Obstructions: Many people live in areas where hills or mountains block a clear view of the horizon. This results in significantly different timings for those who cannot get a clear view of the horizon without traveling a great distance. Whether or not this should be taken into consideration is a matter or disagreement among Muslims scholars.
• Light Pollution[3]/Clouds: The true light from the sun during dawn will be seen above the light pollution or clouds at a later time, thus giving a lower degree calculation for Fajr. Whether or not this should be taken into consideration is a matter or disagreement among Muslims scholars.
• Observer: It has been noted that inexperienced observers generally tend to see the light on the horizon later since their eyes are not used to it and it is often not clear to them what to expect and what to look for. This will naturally skew the observations that are reported.

The following is a brief list of different documented observations for Fajr in various parts of the world to confirm the previous point:

• A group of scholars from the UK in 1983 documented various observations throughout the country as falling between 12° to 16°.[4]
• In 1985, a group of scholars in Chicago concluded that their observations for dawn fell between 13° to 15°.[5]
• Various observations in the USA and Canada indicated Islamic twilight between 12° to 15°.[6]
• In 2004, observations for the entire year in Riyadh, led by Shaykh Abdul-Aziz Fauzan, indicated that dawn fell at 15°.[7]
• In 1988, Hizbul Ulama in the UK compiled a report after performing daily observations for an entire year. Their observations fluctuated throughout the year between 12° to 18°.[8]
• com collected data from different observers in the USA and Canada over decades which indicated a range of 14.8 to 17.5° for Fajr and 11.2 to 17.6° for ʿIshā’.

Choosing an Approximate Calculation for Facilitation

Since the angle of the sun below the horizon is not constant for determining ‘Islamic dawn’, there are several options that Muslim legal scholars have considered:

1. Recommend that every region utilize local observations to determine the prayer times and report it to the rest of the community. This would be extremely difficult for people living in cities where there are several obstructions and light pollution since it would need to be done several times throughout the year and would still vary drastically depending on the location of observation. This method would also be near-impossible for certain people who are unable to observe the horizon in their circumstances.
2. Use the definition of Astronomical Dawn for Fajr prayer calculation.[9] However, this would be incorrect since the start of Fajr does not equate to the criteria of Astronomical Dawn.
3. Go with the highest or lowest timing to be on the ‘safe’ side. However, this results in a conflict for the start of fasting. By taking the highest degrees for the start of Fajr prayer, to be on the ‘safe’ side, the start of fasting becomes on the ‘dangerous’ side, and vice versa.
4. Create two separate times for the start of Fajr and the start of fasting. For example, using 18 degrees for the start of fasting and 12 degrees for the start of Fajr prayer. This method is problematic for two reasons. One, the time for the beginning of fasting and Fajr prayer is the same. Two, these two times could vary by as much as one or two hours in some regions, resulting in confusion and difficulty for people.
5. Choose an approximate time for each region, or for all regions, knowing that it is not entirely precise, and inform people to adjust based on their own casual local observations.[10] A good approximation would be 15° because it is the middle point between twelve and eighteen, which is usually the range of dawn for most places on Earth.[11] While someone is using the 15° calculation for both Fajr and ʿIshā’, they may look outside and if they notice that dawn or dusk is different from the computed calculation they should appropriately adjust for that. Such an adjustment is expected to be rare because most people living in cities cannot easily view dawn from the locations they would normally pray at. When in doubt follow your trusted local scholar or institution for the adjustments they have made. This is the opinion that I follow and advocate for.

Conclusion

Since most people live in cities today, there are many factors which prevent them from correctly observing dawn to determine the start of Fajr prayer. It is still quite easy to ‘primitively’ observe the other four prayer times without any computer programs, but Fajr seems to be the exception since it is often difficult to get a clear view of the horizon. There are several incorrect assumptions people have about Fajr and ʿIshā’ prayer times, the most important of which are: that Astronomical Twilight is equivalent to the start of Fajr, that fixed degrees are static in one particular region, that fixed degrees apply across all different regions, that calculation methods were developed for the specific regions which issued the ruling, and that the prayer times can be precisely known just through generic calculations. None of this is true. The solution to this dilemma will either be to insist on accurately calculating the time for each location on Earth or to adopt an approximate calculation due to the fluctuating nature of dawn and evening twilight. I advocate for the second approach due to the severe difficulty created by the first in our day and age.

Acknowledgments

After thanking Allah, I would like to thank Dr. Muhammad Aslam Khan for his painstaking effort in compiling an unpublished research paper entitled “Problems and Prospects of Muslim Prayer Times Calculation”. This served as my primary resource for framing the issue. I am also grateful to Dr. Khalid Shaukat of moonsighting.com for his valuable discussions with me on the subject, to Dr. Ahmad Salama of Jet Propulsion Laboratories who patiently put up with my numerous interrogations and for suggesting the default fifteen degree approximate calculation, to Dr. Yasir Qadhi for insisting that I add several footnotes addressing common contentions against the fifteen degree calculation, and to Shaykh Muneeb Baig who organized several trips into the California desert and established an unparalleled sighting methodology with multiple observers, DSLR cameras, topography maps, and more.

[1] Even a more precise calculation like the timing of sunset may be off due to refraction and other factors. “Although noon at any place on the Earth can be predicted with an accuracy of 0.1 second, sunrise and

sunset have an uncertainty of minutes because of unpredictable refraction of rays of light near horizon…The observed sunrise is advanced and the observed sunset is delayed due to the refraction of light…all the computer programs assume a nominal horizontal refraction of 0.567° for estimating.” See Akbar Ali Saifee, How accurate are the computed timings for sunrise and sunset?, www.icoproject.org/pdf/saifee_2106.pdf

[2] Even sunrise and sunset, which are more scientifically predictable, are affected by elevation. The greatest sunrise and sunset elevation effect on Earth is Mount Everest, located at 27.988056 N latitude and 86.925278 E longitude, and has an elevation of 29, 029 feet (8,848 Meters). Sunrise has been calculated to be up to 15 minutes and 31 seconds earlier on Mount Everest than on sea level. The range of the seasonal effect has been calculated to be from 15 minutes and 31 seconds on June 22nd, to a ‘low’ of 13 minutes 41 seconds earlier on March 18^th. See www.kosherjava.com/2010/03/07/faq-how-much-earlier-is-sunrise-on-mount-everest-due-to-elevation, last accessed 8-16-2020.

[3] Light pollution is the presence of obtrusive artificial light in the night environment and washes out starlight in the night sky as well as interferes with the observation of twilight.

[4] See moonsighting.com/faq_pt.html section 2.2, last accessed 9-18-2020.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Yaqub Miftahi, Fajar and Isha Times & Twilight (Hizbul Ulama, UK), see www.hizbululama.org.uk/files/fazar_&_isha_times.pdf

[9] This position has even been attributed to premodern Muslim astronomers as argued by Ilyas: “Indeed, 18 degree depression was a commonly used value for fajr and isha in the medieval period, when it must have been based on careful observations.” See Mohammad Ilyas, Astronomy of Islamic Times for the Twenty-first Century (Mansell, 1989), p. 56. However, this is a weak assumption as explained by David King: “I am not aware of any legal text in which it is suggested that one should consult an astronomer on the prayer times or use any of the astronomical tables or instruments that were available for this purpose. It would be naïve to suppose that there was any reason why a legal scholar should have consulted an astronomer.” See David King, In Synchrony With the Heavens (Brill, 2013), p. 468

[10] A ‘casual’ observation refers to a person looking outside from a location which they are used to being at whereas a ‘formal’ observation is a concerted effort to travel to an ideal location to sight ‘Islamic twilight’.

[11] It may be argued that no premodern astronomers identified ‘Islamic twilight’ at 15 degrees or lower as argued by Ilyas: “[David] King [in his book ‘In Synchrony With the Heavens’] has confirmed…no record has been found of the use of a value as small as 15 degrees.” See Mohammad Ilyas, Astronomy of Islamic Times for the Twenty-first Century (Mansell, 1989), p. 56. The first objection to this is that Jaghmini [d. 1344 CE] and Al-Barjandi [d. 1528 CE] have recorded 15 degrees for ‘Islamic twilight’. The second, and more important, response is that the calculations of premodern astronomers were probably different than those used by contemporary astronomers as opined by Yusuf: “Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, they may not have been directly measuring solar depression at all, but rather stellar elevation and (at most) inferring solar depression from it…this is not how twilight angles are determined in modern times. A classical astronomical text citing 18 degrees for true dawn is likely referring to the angle of elevation of a particular star above the opposite horizon from the Sun. A modern discussion is referring to actual solar depression as determined by a different set of calculations. It may be that these are exact parallels, but this needs to be clearly determined, especially given the fact that the relationship between the Sun and the other celestial bodies is not fixed.” See Asim Yusuf, Shedding Light on the Dawn (Nur al-Habib Productions, 2017), p. 199.

Summary

Iʿtikāf is to seclude yourself inside a mosque and focus on worshipping Allah without normal distractions of daily life. It is a commendable act to be performed in any masjid and is especially recommended during the last ten nights of Ramadan since that was the regular established practice of the Prophet Muhammad. In order for Iʿtikāf to be valid, a person must be fasting, avoid intimacy and intercourse, and not leave the masjid without a good reason such as going to the toilet, acquiring food, or helping someone with an emergency. [See Al-Mawṣilī, Kitāb Al-Ikhtiyār 177-178]

Iʿtikāf is normally only valid for men inside a masjid. However, given the fact that most masjids are closed due to the Novel Coronavirus pandemic, it would be encouraged for men to seclude themselves [khalwah] in the designated prayer area of their home for as much time as possible. If they had the intention and the means to perform Iʿtikāf in the masjid, but are unable to due to it being closed, it is hoped that from the mercy of Allah they will get the same reward. Since their seclusion will not be technically considered an Iʿtikāf, the normal rules will not apply.

Textual Evidence

The two instances where Iʿtikāf is mentioned in the Qur’an are both connected with the masjid. Allah says, “…Purify My House for those who walk round it, those who stay there, and those who bow and prostrate themselves in worship.” [Qur’an 2:125] Again, he says, “…Do not lie with them during the nights of your devotional retreat in the mosques: these are the bounds set by God, so do not go near them…” [Qur’an 2:187] Furthermore, all the narration from the Prophet Muhammad referring to Iʿtikāf are all connected to being in a masjid. Likewise, the Companions all held the opinion that it must be done in a masjid.

Classical Scholars

Mainstream Muslim scholars have held the opinion that Iʿtikāf is supposed to be performed inside a masjid. The position of the Ḥanafī school was explained by Imam Al-Mawṣilī, “It must be performed in a masjid where prayers are held…since the person in Iʿtikāf awaits the prayer to pray it in a group [jamāʿah], so the greater the masjid the greater the reward of Iʿtikāf in it.” [Kitāb Al-Ikhtiyār 177] The Mālikī position was explained by Imam Ḥaṭṭāb, “I’tikaf is valid in any masjid…but not in a house according to Imam Malik, neither for men or women.” [Mawāhib Al-Jalīl 3:241] The position of the Shāfiʿī school was explained by Imam Nawawī, “…it is not valid except in the masjid due to verse 2:187 which indicates that it is only permitted in the masjid.” [Al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ Al-Muhadhdhab 8:6] The Hanbalī position was explained by Imam Ibn Qudāmā, “The Iʿtikāf of a man is not valid except in a masjid. We are not aware of any difference of opinion between the scholars on this issue… The fact that Allah Most High specified Iʿtikāf within the masjid is an indication that it should be observed exclusively in the masjid only.” [Al-Mughnī 3:189]

The only difference of opinion that has been reported is about women being allowed to perform it at home only in the designated prayer area of her house. This was the position of Imam Abū Ḥanīfah and one opinion attributed to Imam Shāfiʿī [though scholars like Imam Nawawī consider this to be a weak ascription]. Imam Sarakhsī explains the reasoning as follows, “When a woman performs Iʿtikāf in the designated prayer-area of her home, then that area for her is similar to what a congregational masjid is for a man.” [Kitāb Al-Mabsūṭ 2:132]

Lastly, the only scholar I could find who ever allowed Iʿtikāf in general outside of a masjid is Ibn Lubābah, but his opinion was deemed to be ‘strange’ [shādh] and therefore cannot be considered as a valid historical precedent. [See Bidāyat ul-Mujtahid 2:77]

Conclusion

The majority of Muslim scholars have made it clear that Iʿtikāf can only be performed in a masjid. The Ḥanafī school was one exception where they said that a woman may perform it in her house. While it may be tempting to apply an analogy and say that if women were allowed then men should also be, this idea does not make sense when the rationale behind why women were specifically given this exemption is properly understood. Therefore, although many masjids are closed, Iʿtikāf should remain associated with a masjid, as it was intended. Furthermore, the practice of Iʿtikāf is not a requirement in Islam, so no individual is missing out. If one or two people are able to perform it, such as the Imam or the Muezzin [Caller to Prayer], that will at least ensure the sanctity of the masjid has been upheld. Others may try to focus on worship and come close to the purpose of Iʿtikāf at home, while hoping for the reward from Allah, even though it is not a complete Iʿtikāf.