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﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

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What is the ruling on a maid traveling for 'Umrah without a mahram?

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The Shaykh : It is not permissible for a maid to travel alone, because the maid is a woman, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said
No woman should travel except with a mahramلا تسافر امرأة إلا معها في محرم
. If someone were to ask, “What do you say about the statement of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah that it is permissible for a woman, if she is safe, to travel without a mahram?” I say that Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah has his status, but regarding his statement, we argue for his position and we do not argue for his position; he is like other scholars 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, “No woman should travel except with a mahram.”
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?’فَقَامَ رَجُلٌ فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اَللَّهِ إِنَّ اِمْرَأَتِي خَرَجَتْ حَاجَّةً وَإِنِّي اِكْتُتِبْتُ فِي غَزْوَةِ كَذَا وَكَذَا
Bulugh al-Maram 718
The man was deviating from the expedition to go with his wife, yet the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not ask him, “Is she safe?” He did not ask, “Is she ugly?” so that desire does not attach to her. He did not ask, “Is she an old woman?” so that she does not please women. Rather, he said, “Go and perform Hajj with your wife.” Among the established principles in the principles of jurisprudence is that leaving out a specification in a context of possibility is like generality in that context. Leaving out a specification in a context of reliance is like what? It is like generality in that context. This means that in his view, he is saying, “No, no, a woman should not travel, whether she is safe or fearful, ugly or beautiful, old or young. She should not travel except with a mahram.” And the generality in the hadith is very clear. What is the form of generality in the hadith? Yes. Yes. The indefiniteness in its expression itself, and the indefiniteness in its expression itself implies generality. So the conclusion is that if a man brings us the statement of Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah, we say: If a Companion is not cited as evidence when he contradicts the hadith, how much more so for those after the Companions? So Shaykh, for example, is one of the people who is praised and honored, but in this statement he contradicts the apparent meaning of the Sunnah. This question, although it is our right to reject it because we have become seated, they say that every rule has an exception. Do you accept, my brother, that your statement be anomalous or your question be anomalous? Yes, if it is described and he is not ignorant. He says that some families have a maid with them after speaking, and they will ride, so where does this woman remain? If she remains alone in the house, the danger is greater than traveling. And if they give her to the neighbors, we do not feel safe. And it is balanced by the fact that if it is possible for her to remain with trusted people in the town, she remains. If we do not find that, then she travels with them to perform it. This is the questioner.
Source دروس وفتاوى المسجد الحرام لعام 1406هـ - 6 — binothaimeen.net (1:00:33)

The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.

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