Performing Umrah without a Mahram (1/2)
Question
Q. “I ask because I spoke to a lady on Friday and she told me that she just came back from Umrah on Thursday. Now it was just she and her two sisters that went, no Mahram. The one sister wanted to go and she paid for the other two sisters to accompany her. She said that if you are over 50, you don’t need a Mahram.
Answer
It was Haraam for them to go for Umrah without a Mahram. The Hadith of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) is clear that a female is not allowed to travel even for Hajj without being accompanied by a Mahram.
“It is not permissible for a woman to leave the home without the permission of her husband and it is not permissible for a woman to travel the journey of three days (the Safar distance which amounts to 78 kms or more) without being accompanied by a Mahram”(as-Sunan al-Kubra by Bayhaqi, Hadith #: 10420, Narrated by Ibn Umar)
When it is prohibited for her to travel to complete the Fardh Hajj without a Mahram, what justifies travelling without a Mahram for the optional act of Umrah? All three of them should make sincere Taubah for they have made a mockery of the sanctity of the holy lands and of the Umrah by performing Umrah in this impermissible manner.
No Madh-hab from any of the four Madh-habs permits travelling for Umrah or for leisure travel without a Mahram. A tour operator does not qualify as a Mahram.
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