Title: woman traveling on her own without mahram

Question: My wife is 58 years old. We live in UK and have 3 sons all aged 25 and over. My wife has 2 brothers and 2 aunts (mothers' sisters) in Africa whom she wishes to visit. However due to work and other commitments my sons and I are not always able to accompany her as a MAHRAM. The flight to Africa is about 10 hours if direct and 16 hours if there is a transit stop. I have 3 questions: 1. Can my wife travel on her own under these circumstances to visit her family? 2. If she can, does there have to be exceptional circumstances or a situation defined as "MAJBOORI"? 3. Does the ruling differ if the flight is direct or indirect? Your answer to the above questions is awaited as soon as possible.

Answer ID: 48758Posted on: Sep 1, 2020

Bismillah hir-Rahman nir-Rahim !

(Fatwa: 1370/301/D=12/1434) The scholars of fiqh have explicated that it is unlawful for women to undertake a long journey without the company of male mahram. Therefore in the case mentioned above, your wife is not allowed to travel alone to South Africa. (2-3) The exigent and emergence cases are exempted, but there is no such case here which may be called ‘exigent compulsion’.