she be advanced in years or still young, whether she is travelling with a trustworthy company or not, and whether she can be relied upon to guard herself or not.
Others examined the purpose and intent of the Lawgiver. So long as the prospect of men desiring the woman is present, they deem adherence to the texts obligatory. If that fear is absent—because the woman is known for her uprightness and is accompanied by trustworthy women, or because she is in a crowded setting such as an aeroplane where her maḥrams bid her farewell and receive her—then these scholars do not hold to the outward wording of the texts and consider that no harm exists.
Shaykh al-Islam (Ibn Taymiyya) said: “Any woman who is safe may perform the pilgrimage even without a maḥram, for the underlying cause has disappeared.” He added, “This ruling applies to every journey undertaken for an act of obedience.”
14 – The Shaykh also said: Parents have no right to prevent their child from performing the obligatory ḥajj, and it is not permissible for the child to obey them by neglecting it. The same holds for every personal obligation—prayer, fasting, attending congregational prayer, and travelling to seek knowledge that is individually incumbent—for these are individual duties. Obedience to one’s parents is required only where it does not amount to disobedience, whether by committing what is forbidden or by abandoning what is obligatory.
Disagreement among the scholars:
The scholars are unanimously agreed that it is forbidden for a man to be alone in seclusion with a woman who is not his close relative, and they likewise agree that it is forbidden for a woman to travel without a maḥram when temptation is feared. They differed, however, when that suspicion and its causes are remote.
Some took the general wording of the texts and therefore prohibited her travelling without a maḥram whether the journey is short or long, whether she is young or elderly, and whether she is accompanied by a party of women or not. This is the view of the Ḥanbalis and the Ẓāhirīs, and it was also adopted by Ibrāhīm al-Nakhaʿī, al-Shaʿbī, and Ṭāwūs.
The majority, meanwhile, judged it forbidden only for the younger woman, while being lenient with the older woman. Some of them allowed the latter provided she travelled with a group of women, and others permitted it outright