Women Travelling without a Mahram

1. It is neither permissible for a single female nor a group of females to travel without a Mahram for more than 48 miles.  (Muslim, Vol. 1, Page 433, Raddul Muhtaar, Vol. 5, Page 276)

2. Salaah performed in the Masjid while sitting will not be valid; therefore Salaah must be performed at home standing.  (Ahsanul Fataawaa, Vol. 4, Page 52, Raddul Muhtaar, Vol. 1, Page 329)

3. It is better for this person to perform the entire Salaah while sitting.  (Raddul Muhtaar, Vol. 1, Page 560)

4. When he was about the age of 18, Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jailani requested his mother to allow him to proceed to Baghdad, which was then famous throughout the Muslim world as a great seat of learning and there students from all Muslim countries used to flock in order to acquire knowledge.  He was not deterred by the hardships of a long and dangerous journey and residence in a remote city without any friends or relatives.  When his mother heard the proposal, she shed silent tears and perceived that on account of her old age, she was not destined to see her son again, whom she had reared up carefully and tenderly after the death of her husband long ago.  She did not stand in the way of his devotion to Allah.  Hence she sewed 40 dinars (gold coins) into his garment so that they might not be easily stolen or lost.  It was his half share of the money left by his father.  The other half was kept for his brother.  He soon joined a small caravan which was going to Baghdad.  From childhood he never told a lie but inspite of this trait of his character, his mother at the time of parting took a vow from him not to tell a lie under any circumstances.  They then parted with heavy hearts on either side.  The caravan passed quite safely as far as Hamdaan, but beyond that place a gang of 60 mounted robbers plundered the caravan.  None laid hands upon the young lad, taking him to be a penniless, religious youth.  One robber questioned him if he had anything with him.  He said that he had forty dinars sewed into his garment.  The man took it to be a joke and went away.  Another robber also asked the same question and upon receiving the same answer moved off.  They reported the incident to the leader of the gang, who ordered the youth to be summoned before him.  Accordingly, when he was taken before the leader he said the same thing which he had stated before.  The garment was cut open and 40 dinars were found.  Upon this, he was asked what made him tell the truth.  He replied that he had promised his mother not to tell a lie under any circumstances.  Upon this the robber burst out into tears and said he was breaking the commands of God throughout his life and the youth was carrying out the vow of his mother.  By placing his hands into the hands of the youth, the leader of the robbers solemnly vowed to give up robbery.  The other robbers followed their leader in this act of repentance.  The robbed money and other things were returned to their respective owners. 

We could not find this story in any of the Arabic texts, but we found it in an English book ‘The Saint of Jilan’ written by S.A. Salik.

    5.  It is not permissible to decorate the Masjid on occasions like Meeladun Nabi, because this results in extravagance and  also it is not act done by the pious predecessors.  (Ikhtilaaf-e-Ummat aur Siraat-e-Mustaqeem, Vol. 1, Page 74-75)

And Allah Ta’ala knows best

Nezaam bin Yahya Ali

Attested to as correct by:

Mufti Muhammad Ashraf

Darul Iftaa

Jameah Mahmoodiyah

Springs

19 June 2004

30 Rabee’ul Aakhir 1425