Short answer
Yes, as a nafl (voluntary) itikaf. In the Hanafi school a voluntary itikaf has no minimum: you can intend it for a night, a day or even a few minutes whenever you are in the masjid, and no fast is needed. The full sunnah itikaf of Ramadan, though, is the whole of the last ten days.
Itikaf is of three kinds: wajib (from a vow, at least one day, with fasting), sunnah mu'akkadah kifayah (the last ten days of Ramadan) and nafl, which has no minimum and needs no fast. Leaving the masjid simply ends a nafl itikaf, with nothing to make up.
Other madhhabs
- Maliki
- Every itikaf must be kept with fasting, so it cannot be shorter than a day; a few hours do not count as itikaf.
Explanation
Itikaf means staying in the masjid with the intention of worship. The Prophet ﷺ kept the last ten days of every Ramadan in itikaf. Many people cannot take ten days off work and ask whether a shorter itikaf counts. It does, as a voluntary itikaf.
The three kinds in the Hanafi school:
- Sunnah itikaf: the whole last ten days of Ramadan, from before sunset on the 20th until the Eid moon. It is sunnah kifayah: if one person in the area does it, the area is free of blame.
- Wajib itikaf: from a vow. Its minimum is one day, and it must be kept with a fast.
- Nafl itikaf: any length, even a few minutes, with no fast. Simply intend itikaf as you enter the masjid.
Umar ibn al-Khattab told the Prophet ﷺ that before Islam he had vowed to stay one night in itikaf in the Sacred Masjid, and was told to fulfil the vow. A single night of itikaf is a recognised act. Some ways to use this:
- Intend nafl itikaf each time you go to the masjid for a prayer.
- Spend a weekend, or the odd nights of the last ten, in itikaf.
- Join for the last three or five days if you cannot do all ten. It is a nafl itikaf rather than the full sunnah one, but it is rewarded.
The strict rules on leaving the masjid apply to the sunnah and vowed itikaf. See leaving the masjid during itikaf and the itikaf guide, which also covers women's itikaf.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Baqara 2:187
أُحِلَّ لَكُمْ لَيْلَةَ ٱلصِّيَامِ ٱلرَّفَثُ إِلَىٰ نِسَآئِكُمْ ۚ هُنَّ لِبَاسٌۭ لَّكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لِبَاسٌۭ لَّهُنَّ ۗ عَلِمَ ٱللَّهُ أَنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَخْتَانُونَ أَنفُسَكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ وَعَفَا عَنكُمْ ۖ فَٱلْـَٰٔنَ بَٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَٱبْتَغُوا۟ مَا كَتَبَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ ۚ وَكُلُوا۟ وَٱشْرَبُوا۟ حَتَّىٰ يَتَبَيَّنَ لَكُمُ ٱلْخَيْطُ ٱلْأَبْيَضُ مِنَ ٱلْخَيْطِ ٱلْأَسْوَدِ مِنَ ٱلْفَجْرِ ۖ ثُمَّ أَتِمُّوا۟ ٱلصِّيَامَ إِلَى ٱلَّيْلِ ۚ وَلَا تُبَٰشِرُوهُنَّ وَأَنتُمْ عَٰكِفُونَ فِى ٱلْمَسَٰجِدِ ۗ تِلْكَ حُدُودُ ٱللَّهِ فَلَا تَقْرَبُوهَا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ ٱللَّهُ ءَايَٰتِهِۦ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَّقُونَ ﴿١٨٧﴾
It has been made permissible for you the night preceding fasting to go to your wives [for sexual relations]. They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them. Allah knows that you used to deceive yourselves, so He accepted your repentance and forgave you. So now, have relations with them and seek that which Allah has decreed for you. And eat and drink until the white thread of dawn becomes distinct to you from the black thread [of night]. Then complete the fast until the sunset. And do not have relations with them as long as you are staying for worship in the mosques. These are the limits [set by] Allah, so do not approach them. Thus does Allah make clear His ordinances to the people that they may become righteous.
Itikaf is staying in the masjid for worship.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2032
Sahih... نذرت في الجاهلية أن أعتكف ليلة في المسجد الحرام قال فأوف بنذرك ...
"I vowed before Islam to stay one night in itikaf in the Sacred Masjid. He said: then fulfil your vow."
An itikaf of a single night is valid.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on itikaf. Fasting is a condition of the vowed itikaf; a voluntary itikaf may be for a short time.
- Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Sawm, chapter on itikaf. Itikaf is wajib, sunnah mu'akkadah kifayah or nafl, and the nafl kind has no minimum length.
- Mukhtasar Khalil with al-Sharh al-Kabir, Bab al-I'tikaf. The Maliki conditions of fasting and a minimum of a day and a night.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.