A Woman Travelling for Hajj Without a Mahram

Question

Zayd wants to invite his mother for Hajj. In this, Zayd’s mother would have to travel by aeroplane without a mahram only from Bombay to Jeddah, and on the return journey Zayd himself will be with her. Does the Shari‘a permit this?

Answer

A woman is not permitted to undertake a journey in the Shar‘i sense (safar shar‘i — 48 miles) without a mahram or without her husband, whatever the means of conveyance: it is still a Shar‘i journey, and the Shar‘i rulings apply to it, such as shortening (qasr) the prayer and the like.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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