what His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, has forbidden, such as travelling to trade in wine and other unlawful commodities, engaging in banditry, or a woman’s journeying without a guardian (1).
2 – Obligatory travel: travelling to perform the obligatory Hajj, the mandatory ʿumrah, or to take part in a compulsory jihad.
3 – Recommended travel: travelling for a non-obligatory ʿumrah, a voluntary Hajj, or a supererogatory jihad.
4 – Permissible travel: travelling for lawful commerce or for any other permissible purpose.
5 – Disliked travel: a person travelling alone without companions except in cases of unavoidable necessity (2); this is based on the Prophet’s saying, peace and blessings be upon him: “If people knew what I know about solitude, no rider would travel by night alone.” (3)
These, then, are the categories of travel identified by the scholars. Every Muslim must refrain from embarking on a prohibited journey, and he ought not