Chapter: A Woman Travelling without a Maḥram
First ḥadith
Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to travel the distance of a day and a night unless she is accompanied by a maḥram (a male relative with whom marriage is permanently forbidden).”
In another wording (1) recorded by al-Bukhārī: “A woman must not travel the distance of a day except with a maḥram.”
Overall meaning
A woman is liable to arouse desire and covetousness, and, because of her relative weakness, she can scarcely protect herself. No one guards her honor as her maḥrams do; they regard any affront to her as an affront to their own dignity. When an unrelated man finds himself alone with a woman, he becomes vulnerable to Satan’s temptations and whisperings. For these reasons—avenues that lead to fornication and the violation of honor—the Lawgiver forbade a woman to travel for a day, or for a day and a night, unless she is accompanied by a maḥram: her husband, or a male relative to whom she is permanently forbidden in marriage by lineage (such as a father, son, brother, paternal uncle, or maternal uncle), by affinity (her husband’s father or his son, no matter how remote), or by nursing (her foster-father or foster-brother).
The Lawgiver appeals to her faith in Allah and the Last Day: if she truly maintains that faith and acts upon its dictates, she must not travel except with a maḥram.
Differences among the scholars
The text of the ḥadith itself is sufficient for deriving rulings, yet scholars nevertheless disagreed—disputes we shall summarize without lengthy detail, since they conflict with the explicit wording of this sound report. They differed as to whether a woman who has the financial means is deemed capable of performing ḥajj without a maḥram, or whether the presence of a maḥram is itself a pre-condition for capacity. The correct view is that it is impermissible for her to set out on any journey without a maḥram; hence she is excused and not considered able. They also disagreed about an elderly woman who arouses no desire: may she travel without a maḥram, or is a maḥram still indispensable?