form of seclusion is more perilous than any other. The Prophet ﷺ said, “Beware of entering upon women.” A man from the Anṣār asked, “Messenger of Allah, what about the hamw?” He replied, “The hamw is death.”(1) The word hamw denotes the husband’s brother; it is as though the Prophet disliked that he be alone with her.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar states in Fatḥ al-Bārī (9/331): “Al-Nawawī said: The scholars of the Arabic language unanimously agree that al-aḥmaʾ are the husband’s relatives—his father, uncle, brother, nephew, cousin, and the like. He also said: What is meant in the ḥadith are the husband’s relatives other than his fathers and sons, for those are maḥrams to the wife, may lawfully be alone with her, and are not described as ‘death’. He added: People have grown lax and allow a man’s brother to be alone with his brother’s wife; the Prophet therefore likened him to death, making the prohibition all the more emphatic.” End quote.

Al-Shawkānī comments in Nayl al-Aṭār (6/122): “His statement ‘the hamw is death’ means that the danger posed by him exceeds that of others, just as the fear of death surpasses every other fear.” End quote.

So fear Allah, O Muslim woman, and do not treat this matter lightly—even if people around you do—for what matters is the ruling of the Sharīʿah, not people’s custom.

b) Some women—and the men responsible for them—are likewise lax about a woman’s riding alone in