Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1539

Unreviewed translation. All hadiths in this collection are available in five languages. Titles and introductions may remain in Arabic.

Ishaq bin Mansur narrated to us: Yahya bin Said Al-Qattan informed us, from Ubaidullah bin Umar, from Nafi, from Ibn Umar, from Umar, who said: I said, “Messenger of Allah, during the pre-Islamic era I vowed to observe itikaf for one night in the Sacred Mosque.” He said: “Fulfill your vow.” There are also reports on this topic from Abdullah bin Amr and Ibn Abbas. Abu Isa said: The hadith of Umar is Hasan Sahih. Some scholars followed this hadith and said that if a man accepts Islam while owing a vow to perform an act of obedience, he should fulfill it. Some scholars among the Companions of the Prophet and others said that itikaf is only valid with fasting. Other scholars said that a person observing itikaf is not required to fast unless he has made fasting obligatory upon himself. They cited the hadith of Umar: he had vowed during the pre-Islamic era to observe itikaf for one night, and the Prophet (ﷺ) instructed him to fulfill it. This was the view of Ahmad and Ishaq.