Itikhaaf (The Night of Power)
My dad and brother are doing Itikhaaf this year. I don’t think my dad has done it before but my brother has in Saudia Arabia. I am curious if he does it in the Masjid Al-Haram or any of the other masjids. They spend the last 10 nights of Ramadhan in the masjid. They sleep the days (except when they have to wake up to pray) and wake the nights in devotion and extra prayer. Yes they can do extra prayer during the days too. They can’t leave unless to get food or some emergency.
They both have a wife and daughter at home, not doing Itikhaaf. I can guarantee you that one of those daughters is not going to be much help. She’s not yet 3! :)
Thankfully the masjid has a working fridge and stove. The oven hasn’t been used in ages so they won’t use that. We’ll leave one five-gallon container of water with them and they’ll get the toaster oven. I told mom we can stock the freezer with a bag of fries and frozen fish sticks. We will partly bake some little beef pies that mom made and they can finish them up in the oven. And when we cook dinner we will carry it down for them. But since they will keep a car, maybe they can also come pick it up. I told them they can also expect KFC and Pizza and other food I feel like going and buying. After all, we might not be doing Itikhaaf but we will also have/want to spend the nights in extra devotion. My sister-in-law will make sure they’re stocked with snacks. Maybe we’ll move some of the niece’s into the masjid. I haven’t had chinese food in ages. Since my brother has been home I’ve not made pizza.
Empty house. Woohoo. My sister-in-law might spend some time by her mother. I tried to convince my mom she should do it too. Women don’t do it in the masjid. They kinda sequester themselves in part of the house, I think. Imagine…whole house too myself! Woohoo! Unfortunately no.
Now, you might be wondering what is the point of Itikhaaf.
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