QUESTION:

What do the Scholars of the mighty sharī’ah say regarding this case: I am working in Saudi Arabia and for ‘Umrah I want to bring my mother here. My father and mother are not together; will my mother need a Mahram to travel here from another country? Also, is it possible that she arrives here alone and I bring her to Makkah, then afterwards as a Mahram accompany her to help her perform ‘Umrah.

Questioner: Mumin from Saudia Arabia

ANSWER:

بسم اللہ الرحمن الرحیم

الجواب بعون الملک الوھاب اللھم ھدایۃ الحق والصواب

Your mother cannot travel alone to Hijāz Sharīf without a Mahram, because for a woman to travel the distance of three days (92km) without a Mahram is legally impermissible and harām. This is the position of the Ahnāf (Hanafī Jurists) and it is Zāhir al-Riwāyah (the apparent position in the madhab). As is stated in a Hadīth,

“عَنِ ابْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَاأَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ لاَ تُسَافِرِ المَرْأَةُ ثَلاَثَةَ أَيَّامٍ إِلَّا مَعَ ذِي مَحْرَمٍ”

“It is narrated from Sayyidunā Ibn ‘Umar, may Allāh Almighty be pleased with him, that the Noble Prophet ﷺ stated that, ‘A woman should not travel for more than three days except with a Mahram (i.e. a male with whom she cannot marry at all e.g. her brother, father, grandfather, etc. or her own husband).’

[Sahīh al-Bukhārī, Hadīth no 1086]

Rather, a woman should refrain from travelling the distance of one day (30.7km) without a Mahram, because the later jurists of the madhab have declared travelling the distance of one day as inadmissible. As in Bahār-e-Sharī’at, volume 1, page 752 it is stated that for a women to travel the distance of three days or more is impermissible, rather the distance of one day as well. She cannot travel with a minor child or one who is mentally impaired. In companionship an adult Mahram or the husband is necessary [there is no distinction at all for Hajj].

[Bahār-e-Sharī’at, vol 1, pg 752. ‘Ālamgīrī, vol 1, pg 142]

In al-Fatāwā al-Ridawiyyah, Sayyidī A’lā Hazrat (may Allah shower him with mercy) states that, more importantly for a woman to travel without being accompanied by a Mahram or her husband is harām, and there is no exception for Hajj in this. Wherever she travels the distance of one day without her husband or Mahram, so she will be a sinner.

[Extracted from Fatāwā Ridawiyyah, vol 10, pg 657]

واللہ تعالی اعلم ورسولہ اعلم صلی اللہ علیہ وآلہ وسلم

کتبہ ابو الحسن محمد قاسم ضیاء قادری

Answered by Mufti Qasim Zia al-Qadri

Translated by Hamza Hussain

Read the original Urdu answer here – [Q-ID0324] Can a woman travel alone to perform Hajj or Umrah without a Mahram?

Also see:

[Q-ID0144] Can a woman travel 57.5 miles without a mahram?

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