Muftī Taqī ʿUthmānī, Muftī Saʿīd Aḥmad Pālanpūrī, Mawlānā Khālid Saifullāh Raḥmānī, Muftī Ḥabībur Raḥmān Khairābādī, Muftī Shabbīr Aḥmad Qāsmī, and Muftī Salmān Manṣūrpūrī have endorsed the following ruling:

“Iʿtikāf is not valid in a prayer hall that does not qualify as a Sharʿī masjid, since it is merely regarded as an ʿurfī (customary) masjid rather than a Sharʿī masjid (a masjid established by Sharīʿah).”

(Fiqhī Ḍawābiṭ, p. 302)

Position Of Muftī Ismāʿīl Kacholwī

(Khalīfa of Kutub al-Aktāb, Ḥaḍrat Shaykh Zakariyyā Kāndhelwī Raḥimahullāh)

Muftī Ismāʿīl Kacholwī, Khalīfa of Kutub al-Aktāb, Ḥaḍrat Shaykh Zakariyyā Kāndhelwī رحمه الله عليه, was asked regarding a village in which the masjid had been demolished for the purpose of expansion, while the five daily prayers and Jumuʿah were temporarily being performed in the madrasa’s boarding hall. With the arrival of Ramaḍān, the question arose whether Iʿtikāf could be observed in that hall during the last ten days. He replied:

“For Iʿtikāf, it is necessary that the place be a Sharʿī masjid. Therefore, in the aforementioned situation, observing Iʿtikāf in the mentioned hall is not valid.”

(Fatāwā Dīniyya, p. 86)