The ruling on traveling alone or with two people
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
This questioner asks about the hadithSunan Abi Dawud 2607Hasan (Al-Albani), saying: What is the meaning of this hadith? And if I travel alone, do I sin by doing so?
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, and upon his family and all his Companions. The hadith is clear and apparent in that it is not permissible for a person to travel alone, nor is it permissible for two people to travel alone, because of the danger involved. If something were to happen to him that prevents him from continuing his journey, such as illness or something similar, or any other unforeseen event, he must have someone with him to help him bear this event and ward it off. The same applies to two people; if Allah wills, a dispute may arise between them. Therefore, traveling with only two people is prohibited.
The presenter:
The two riders are two Shayatins (devils), whereas three are a caravan, because they are a group capable of defending themselves and warding off the danger that befalls the traveler, by the permission of Allah. This is among the etiquettes of travel; this is among the etiquettes of travel. However, in the present day, since there are many continuous cars on the roads and many stations, you travel as if you are traveling on a street between towns. In this case, it appears to me that there is no harm in a person traveling alone.
The Shaykh:
Allah knows best.
This questioner asks about the hadith
A single rider is a devil, and a pair of riders are a pair of devils, but three are a company of riders.
الراكب شيطان والراكبان شيطانان والثلاثة ركبThe 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, and upon his family and all his Companions. The hadith is clear and apparent in that it is not permissible for a person to travel alone, nor is it permissible for two people to travel alone, because of the danger involved. If something were to happen to him that prevents him from continuing his journey, such as illness or something similar, or any other unforeseen event, he must have someone with him to help him bear this event and ward it off. The same applies to two people; if Allah wills, a dispute may arise between them. Therefore, traveling with only two people is prohibited.
The presenter:
The two riders are two Shayatins (devils), whereas three are a caravan, because they are a group capable of defending themselves and warding off the danger that befalls the traveler, by the permission of Allah. This is among the etiquettes of travel; this is among the etiquettes of travel. However, in the present day, since there are many continuous cars on the roads and many stations, you travel as if you are traveling on a street between towns. In this case, it appears to me that there is no harm in a person traveling alone.
The Shaykh:
Allah knows best.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/235 — archive.org (0:55)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.