More than 1,527 faithful mostly from twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad will observe Aitkaf at Faisal Mosque starting from today (Ramazan 20th).
Arrangements have been finalised for Aitkaf sitting at the mosque.
As many as 1,527 applicants have so far been selected out of a total of
1,896 aspirants for a ten-day communion with the Creator in isolation to seek His blessing and forgiveness for their sins, an official of Aitkaf Section told APP on Wednesday.       
The number of Motakafeen (Aitkaf observers) may be increased further as the process of selecting aspirants would continue till Thursday noon, he said adding last year, 1000 worshipers were selected to observe Aitkaf at the Faisal Mosque out of 1500 applicants.
He said special arrangements have been made for Motakafeen to impart them education about ‘Fiqhai’ problems besides lectures from religious scholars.                                                     
“Religious scholars will deliver lectures on different issues from 9 to 12:30 pm daily and that programme will continue till the moon sighting of Shawal,” he said.
Aitkaf sitting is a Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) and carries a multitude of blessings of the Allah Almighty. Men observe Aitkaf in small cubicles, set up by hanging large cloth sheets inside mosques, whereas women observe it at secluded corner or quite place in the house, which is not frequently visited by others.
Normally, mosques invite requests from worshippers and managing committees allocate places to them to perform the sacred religious obligation with complete peace of mind.
These worshippers are provided Sehri and Iftari by their relatives to facilitate them to concentrate on their worship. In Faisal mosque a philanthropist, Abrar Lodhi, is used to provide food to the faithful during Sehr and Iftar free of cost however the believers who do not want to have free food could pay him Rs 1000 for provision of food during Sehr and Itfar for ten days.
 It may be noted that Abrar never demanded money from the observers and he is providing food to the Motakafeen to please the Almighty Allah, the official added.