or a group of men seclude themselves with a single woman, the predominant view is that it is prohibited.
Some scholars, however, have maintained that if those present are people unlikely to collude in immorality, it is permissible.
The Ḥanafīs hold that it is permissible for one man to be alone with more than one woman,
whereas the Ḥanbalīs rule it unlawful for a man to be in seclusion with several women—or the reverse, such as several men withdrawing with a single woman.

The “strange woman” for whom seclusion is forbidden is any woman who is neither a wife nor a maḥram. A maḥram is a woman whom a man is permanently forbidden to marry, whether the prohibition arises from blood relationship, nursing, or marital ties.

The foundation for this is what al-Bukhārī narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās: the Prophet ﷺ said, “No man must ever be alone with a woman unless she is accompanied by a maḥram.”

From the foregoing we learn the following:

Seclusion is of two kinds:
1 - Major (mughallazah) seclusion: a man’s meeting with an unrelated woman in a place where they are safe from anyone’s view.
2 - Minor (mukhaffafah) seclusion: a man’s being with an unrelated woman in front of other people so that their persons remain visible, yet their hushed conversation cannot be overheard.

An example of the latter is their being alone together in a car while driving through streets and markets—this is considered suspicious seclusion, and there are many similar instances.

Whether major or minor, seclusion is a means that may lead to the unlawful, and means take the ruling of their ends. Nevertheless, the practical ruling can differ according to the individuals, the circumstances, and the particular context.
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