Transporting female students by bus between cities
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Fatwa number ( 16042 )
Q: We inform you that we are the guardians of more than thirty female students from
the city of al-Khafji , who are studying at the College of Arts in Dammam . We are suffering since the bus that used to transport them from the college dormitory to visit their families in al-Khafji at the end of every week and then bring them back was banned. We submitted a request to continue transporting them by bus to the Governor of the Eastern Province, but he stated that the matter is religious and he cannot do anything without a fatwa from your Eminence. Please note that we hold legal powers of attorney, and the bus driver is an elderly man, known for his piety by everyone, and he has two wives and takes one of them with him during the trip. Also, most of the guardians are elderly and cannot travel constantly. Furthermore, we are of limited income and do not have the money or cars to enable us to go every week, because the bus owner takes only 350 riyals per month for the trip from Dammam to al-Khafji and back. We ask you to issue a written fatwa regarding the permissibility of transporting the female students in this manner. May Allah protect you.
A: It is not permissible for a Muslim woman to travel without a mahram; because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas:Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 9:2565 narrated by Ahmad and al-Bukhari and Muslim , and from Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say while delivering a sermon: Bulugh al-Maram 718 narrated by Ahmad and al-Bukhari and Muslim . Therefore, the woman is prohibited from everything called travel unless she is with a mahram who protects her, guards her, and attends to her needs. The mahram is: her husband or one who is permanently forbidden to her due to kinship, breastfeeding, or in-law relations; such as her father, her son, her brother, her brother's son, her paternal uncle, her maternal uncle, her husband's father, her husband's son, her son through breastfeeding, or her brother through breastfeeding, and the like. Whether the woman is young or old, and whether she is alone or with women. A group of women is not sufficient in place of a mahram; due to the generality of the hadiths and the fact that the danger is not removed. It is obligatory for women and their guardians to fear Allah, adhere to the commands of Allah and His Messenger, and abandon what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, especially in maintaining modesty and chastity and avoiding the means of evil and corruption. It is not permissible for greed for this world to lead them to be lax in this matter. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions.
Q: We inform you that we are the guardians of more than thirty female students from
the city of al-Khafji , who are studying at the College of Arts in Dammam . We are suffering since the bus that used to transport them from the college dormitory to visit their families in al-Khafji at the end of every week and then bring them back was banned. We submitted a request to continue transporting them by bus to the Governor of the Eastern Province, but he stated that the matter is religious and he cannot do anything without a fatwa from your Eminence. Please note that we hold legal powers of attorney, and the bus driver is an elderly man, known for his piety by everyone, and he has two wives and takes one of them with him during the trip. Also, most of the guardians are elderly and cannot travel constantly. Furthermore, we are of limited income and do not have the money or cars to enable us to go every week, because the bus owner takes only 350 riyals per month for the trip from Dammam to al-Khafji and back. We ask you to issue a written fatwa regarding the permissibility of transporting the female students in this manner. May Allah protect you.
A: It is not permissible for a Muslim woman to travel without a mahram; because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Ibn 'Abbas:
A woman should not travel except with a mahram
لا تسافر امرأة إلا مع ذي محرمA man must never be alone with a woman unless there is a Mahram with her. A woman also may not travel with anyone except with a Mahram (relative).” A man stood up and asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah! My wife has gone for Hajj while I am enlisted for such and such a battle, what should I do?’ The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) replied, “Go and join your wife in Hajj.
لا يخلون رجل بامرأة إلا ومعها ذو محرم، ولا تسافر المرأة إلا مع ذي محرم، فقام رجل فقال: إن امرأتي خرجت حاجَّة، وإني اكتتبت في غزوة كذا وكذا، فقال صلى الله عليه وسلم: انطلق فحج مع امرأتك
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.