mahram from reaching Mecca—is a legal incapacity, not a physical one. She is therefore like one who lacks the financial means, and Hajj is not obligatory upon her. If she dies possessing abundant wealth but was unable to find a mahram to travel with her, the cost of Hajj need not be taken from her estate, and she bears no sin.

Some scholars have said that the mahram is a condition for the duty of personal performance, not for the obligation itself. According to this view, if she finds a mahram during her lifetime, she must perform Hajj herself; but if she does not find one and then dies, Hajj must be performed on her behalf from her estate. This is because the presence of a mahram is a condition for her being required to perform it personally, not a condition for Hajj to be obligatory in the first place.

However, the correct view of the school is that it is a condition for Hajj to be obligatory.

If a woman performs Hajj without a mahram, her Hajj is valid, but she is sinful, because the requirement of a mahram is not confined to Hajj.

His statement, “and he is her husband,” means that her mahram may be her husband—that is, a man with whom she has entered into a valid marriage contract, even if neither consummation nor seclusion has occurred.

His statement, “or one whom she is permanently forbidden to marry,” excludes one whom she is forbidden to marry only temporarily, such as a woman in ihram.

His statement, “through lineage,” means through kinship.

His statement, “or through a lawful cause”: lawful causes are confined to two:

First: nursing.

Second: marital affinity.