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Why is a woman allowed to travel for leisure, but not allowed to travel for Umrah, despite the availability of safe companionship and her yearning to visit the Sacred House of Allah?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Scholars differed regarding the condition of a mahram (unmarriageable kin) for a woman in Hajj and Umrah. The preponderant opinion is that it is not a condition for obligatory (Hajj/Umrah), so she may travel without a mahram or husband; rather, safe companionship suffices, such as the presence of trustworthy women, because it is an obligatory journey for which a mahram is not a condition. Ibn Taymiyyah held the view that it is permissible for a woman to travel without a mahram for any act of obedience if she is with companions and is safe. However, her travel for leisure is not permissible except with a mahram.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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