An Elderly Woman’s Hajj Journey Without a Mahram

Question

(1) A sixty-year-old elderly woman wishes to go for Hajj, but no mahram is with her. There is an elderly man who is not her mahram, but he too is over sixty. In such a case, may that woman go for Hajj with this elderly man or not? (2) In the case described above, if the elderly man refuses to take the woman with him, but she attaches herself to his caravan during the journey, should the elderly man then look after her or leave her in a helpless state?

Answer

(1) An elderly woman too should not travel without her husband or some mahram (al-Bahr, vol. 2, p. 339). (2) Since she has in fact attached herself to him, looking after her is necessary (lazim).

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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