Spiritual Retreat: The Unlawful Acts of Iʿtikaf
Practical Laws of Islam as per the teachings of Ayatullah Sistani
Ruling 1731
Someone who is performing iʿtikāf must refrain from doing the unlawful acts of iʿtikāf, which are as follows:
1. Smelling a pleasant fragrance;
2. Having sexual intercourse with one’s spouse;
3. Masturbating, having sexual contact with one’s spouse by means of touching, and lustfully kissing (based on obligatory precaution);
4. Disputing (mumārāh) and arguing (mujādalah) with others;
5. Buying and selling.
Doing these things invalidates one’s iʿtikāf. In the case of an iʿtikāf that is not an assigned obligation [i.e. it is not al‑wājib al‑muʿayyan],[1] the obligation to refrain from these things – apart from having sexual intercourse – is based on obligatory precaution.[2]
-Ayatullah Sistani, Practical Laws of Islam, Spiritual Retreat (Iʿtikāf)
An assigned obligation is an act of worship that must be performed at one distinct time. One way that an iʿtikāf could become an assigned obligation is by means of a vow.
This means that, with regard to an iʿtikāf that is not an assigned obligation, the obligation to refrain from having sexual intercourse is a fatwa, whereas the obligation to refrain from the other things is based on obligatory precaution (see Ruling 6 for the distinction between a fatwa and a ruling based on obligatory precaution). As for an iʿtikāf that is an assigned obligation, the obligation to refrain from these things is a fatwa.