The Ruling on a Woman Traveling for 'Umrah Without a Mahram

The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.

The questioner:
Honorable Shaykh, the discussion regarding 'Umrah continues, and it is fitting that many Muslims go to perform it in this blessed month. Perhaps we should begin this episode with a question about the ruling on a woman traveling for 'Umrah without a mahram?

The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions. As for what follows, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: In one narration, the distance is a day and a night's journey; in another, a two-day journey; and in another, a three-day journey. The point is that she does not travel what is called a journey except in the presence of a mahram who protects her and attends to her needs, because she is an 'awrah (part of the body that must be covered) and because she is weak and may face problems while traveling. Travel is not an easy matter; travel is a piece of torment. Therefore, it is a condition for a woman that a man came wanting to go out in the cause of Allah, and he informed the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that his wife had gone out for Hajj, so he said: "Go back and perform Hajj with your wife."
And 'Umrah, Hajj, and other such travels require a woman to have a mahram. If she does not find a mahram, then it is safer for her and further from dangers for her to sit in her land and in her home. This applies to all times and places, whether the travel is on foot, on mounts, by car, by plane, by ship, or otherwise. The generality of the hadith covers all times in the world, because a woman is always and forever in need of a mahram in her travel. Yes.