Is it permissible for a woman to leave her house without a mahram (a relative one may not marry) to visit a relative or to visit a sick person?

Question:
You ask, Honorable Shaykh, and you say: Is it permissible for a woman to leave her house without a mahram to visit a sick person or to visit a relative?

Answer:
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. And to proceed: There is no doubt that a woman, however much she is careful and strives to maintain modesty and stay at home, this is better for her, more protective of her, and safer for her from fitnah (trial, discord or temptation). If she needs to go out to visit a sick person, visit a relative, or to work she needs, or to buy something she needs, there is nothing wrong with that, and the presence of a mahram is not required, because a mahram is only required for travel. As for her going out in the city for a permissible need, there is nothing wrong with that, on the condition that she is safe from fitnah, that she is modest and careful, and that she does not ride in a car, such as a taxi, with a man who is not a mahram to her. For a woman riding alone with a non-mahram man is a forbidden seclusion. However, if she rides with a group of women or with her mahram, there is nothing wrong with that. Yes.