QUESTION:
As Salaamu Alaikum Mufti Saab,
I am sure you are aware that Saudi has recently issued a ruling that they are allowing women to make hajj and umrah without a mahram. Is this permissible: for women to go to perform hajj and umrah alone with no mahram? If they go will their hajj and/umrah be rewarded or will it be sinful/against shariah?
Thank you for your time and consideration?
ANSWER:
Wa Alaikum As Salaam,
The ruling which is clearly evident from authentic traditions is that a woman must have her husband or a Mahram to accompany her for Hajj or Umrah. She is not allowed to undertake a journey, including that of Hajj and Umrah except that she has her husband or a Mahram with her.
This is understood from the hadith of Abdullah bin Abbas (R.A) who said that he heard the Prophet (S.A.W) saying, ‘No man should be alone with a woman unless her Mahram is present, and no woman should travel unless she has a Mahram with her’. A man stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allah, my wife has gone for Hajj and I have been enlisted for such expedition’. The Prophet (S.A.W) said to him, ‘Go and perform Hajj with your wife’. (Bukhari, Muslim)
In another hadith, Abdullah bin Umar (R.A) reports that the Prophet (S.A.W) said, ‘It is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the last day to undertake a journey for three days and nights except that she has a Mahram with her’. (Bukhari Hadith No. 3006; Muslim Hadith No. 1314; Abu Dawood).
In another hadith, Abu Saeed Al Khudri (RA) narrates that the Prophet (S.A.W) said, ‘It is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the last day to undertake a journey for three days or more except that she has her father with her, or her brother or her husband or her son or another Mahram (male blood relative). (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Tirmidhi).
It is also narrated that the Prophet (S.A.W) said, ‘No woman must perform Hajj except that she has a Mahram with her (Al Bazaar in his Musnad; Dar Qutni).
Based on these narrations, the great Imams of Fiqh like Imam Abu Hanifa, Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal, Ishaq, Ibraheem bin Yazeed An Nakh’i, Tawoos, Ash Shabi, Hasan Basri, Sufyan Thawri (AR) and other leading Fuqaha from the Tabi’een and Tab’i Tabi’een have stated that a woman is required to have her husband or a Mahram for the performance of Hajj and Umrah. This is the position which has been adopted by a great amount of scholars from the period of the Sahabahs until today, since it conforms to ‘clear-cut’ teachings and instructions of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.W).
It is for this reason, the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Verdicts of Saudi Arabia which included the greatest scholars of the Kingdom, had collectively issued a Fatwa stating that a woman needs to have her husband or a Mahram with her to perform Hajj.
In this regard, the Permanent Committee wrote ‘It is not permissible for her to travel for Hajj or anything else except with her husband or her Mahram. This is due to what Al Bukhari recorded that the Prophet (S.A.W) said, ‘It is not permissible for a woman to travel a distance of a day and a night except with her Mahram’. (Bukhari Hadith No. 1088 – Fatawa Islamiyah – Islamic Verdicts Vol. 4. Page. 45 Darus Salaam Jeddah July 2002). [Fatawa Islamiyah is a compendium of Fatawa which have been  issued by Shaikh Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah bin Baaz, Shaikh Muhammad bin Salih Al Uthaimin, Shaikh Abdullah bin Abdur Rahman Al Jibreen, the Permanent Committee and the decisions of the Fiqh Council of Saudi Arabia].
If a woman goes for Hajj/Umrah without being accompanied by the husband or a Mahram, then the Hajj will be valid, but this act of hers will be considered totally disliked and may cause a decrease in her rewards, since she has opposed the instructions of the Prophet (S.A.W). (Kitabul Fatawa Vol. 4 pg 43 Zamzam Publishers Karachi 2008).
And Allah Knows best
Mufti Waseem Khan
21/10/2022