Youth I’tikaf at Imamzadeh Qasim (AS) with Haj Hossein Yekta

I’tikaf; A Takeoff for Flight Toward God

I’tikaf is taking off. You have come to this runway to straighten your heart and prepare for flight. I’tikaf is the path to reaching God; a path that is smooth and even. You have come to walk the straight path (Sirat al-Mustaqeem) and traverse a hundred-year journey in three nights.

They ask: “Is this house your father’s house?” Yes, I’tikaf is your father’s house; the house of the father who is Amir al-Mu’minin, Ali ibn Abi Talib (AS). He is the father of all of us; the father who created the earth and molded humans from clay.

You have come to this I’tikaf so that this heart of clay can be reshaped in God’s pottery workshop and transformed into its best version.