Section
The Sunnah Concerning Travel for Men and Women
Travelling alone is disliked, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “A lone rider is a devil, two riders are two devils, and three form a travelling party.” He also said: “Satan targets one or two, but when they are three, he does not target them.” It is also narrated that he, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The best number of companions is four, the best scouting parties are forty, the best detachments are four hundred, and the best armies are four thousand. Twelve thousand will never be defeated for lack of numbers, unless they become divided.”
It is recommended that travellers treat their mounts gently, let them stop at suitable places when pasture is plentiful, and spare them by providing them with water during drought. They should not stop to rest at night on the road. A man should hasten back to his family once he has accomplished the purpose of his journey, arriving early in the day rather than coming to them at night. Hadiths have been reported concerning all these matters.
There is nothing wrong with travelling swiftly and covering several stages when necessary. Ibn ʿUmar and Saʿīd ibn Abī Hind, both among the finest of people, travelled from Mecca to Medina in three days, although the journey normally takes ten days.
A woman is not to travel except with her husband or a male relative whom she is permanently forbidden to marry, because the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to travel a day and a night’s journey unless accompanied by such a relative.” This is supported by the words of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:
“As for women past childbearing age who no longer expect to marry, there is no blame upon them for laying aside their outer garments, without displaying their adornment.” [al-Nūr: 60]
This restriction does not apply to migration from a land of unbelief to a land of Islam when she has embraced Islam there, nor to travel to perform the obligatory Hajj. Her migration to a land of Islam is excluded from the hadith’s general scope by scholarly consensus, and travel for Hajj is excluded by analogy with the case established by consensus.