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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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The ruling on a domestic worker traveling for 'Umrah with the people she works for?

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Question : This questioner says: What is the ruling on a domestic worker performing 'Umrah with the people she works for without a mahram?

Answer : It is not permissible for a domestic worker to travel without a mahram, because the domestic worker is a woman, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
No woman should travel except with a mahramلا تسافر امرأة إلا مع ذي محرم
Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 9:2565
. If someone asks, what do you say about the statement of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah? He said that it is permissible for a woman to travel without a mahram if she is safe, and Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah has his status.
I say regarding the statement of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah that he, meaning Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, is cited as evidence for his opinion, but his opinion is not cited as evidence. He is like the other scholars of knowledge who err and hit the mark. His statement, may Allah have mercy on him, contradicts the apparent meaning of the Sunnah. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) delivered a sermon and said:
A woman does not travel except with a mahram. So a man stood up and said: O Messenger of Allah, my wife has gone out for a need, and I have signed up for the expedition of so-and-so.لا تسافر امرأة إلا مع ذي محرم، فقام رجل فقال يا رسول الله إن امرأتي خرجت حاجة، وإني اكتتبت في غزوة كذا وكذا
Sunan al-Bayhaqi 4:1440
. The man had signed up for the expedition, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Go, and perform Hajj with your wife. If the ruling differed between the safe woman and the fearful woman, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) would have asked him, because the situation called for a question, since the man was going to switch from the expedition to going with his wife. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not say to him: Is she safe? He did not say: Is she ugly, so that no desire is attached to her? He did not say: Is she an old woman, so that marriage is not expected?
Rather, he said: Go, and perform Hajj with your wife. And one of the established principles in the principles of jurisprudence is that leaving out a specific detail in a situation of possibility is treated as a general statement in the discourse. Leaving out a specific detail in a situation of possibility is treated as a general statement in the discourse. This means it is as if the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is saying: A woman does not travel, whether she is safe or fearful, ugly or beautiful, old or young. She does not travel except with a mahram. Even though the generality in the hadith is very clear. What is the form of generality in the hadith?
What is the verse? The indefinite noun in the context of negation, and the indefinite noun in the context of negation implies generality. Yes, so the result is that if a man brings us the statement of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, we say: If a Companion’s statement is not cited as evidence when it contradicts the hadith, how much less so for those after the Companions? And Shaykh al-Islam is a human being in this world who errs and hits the mark, and in this statement he contradicts the apparent meaning of the Sunnah. Yes.
This question, although it is our right to reject it because we have established a principle, they say that every rule has exceptions. Do you accept, my brother, that your statement be an exception, or your question? Yes, if there is a benefit, let it be an exception. He says that some families have a domestic worker who has no place to stay, and they are going to travel. Where does this woman stay? If she remains alone in the house, the danger is greater than traveling. And if they give her to their neighbors, we do not feel safe. My answer to that is that if it is possible for her to stay with trustworthy people in the town, let her stay. If we do not find such people, then she travels with them out of dire necessity.
Source قناة «فضيلة الشيخ محمد بن صالح العثيمين»، لقاء[24 من 41] حكم سفر الخادمة للعمرة مع من تعمل عندهم؟!! الشيخ ابن عثيمين - مشروع كبار العلماء — youtube.com

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