Excerpted from the book “500 Questions and Answers for Women” based on the Fatāwā of the Scholars of the Ḥaramayn, translated by Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbdullah Salīm
Some women, when intending to travel a long distance, gather in groups of two or three or more and ride in a vehicle. What is the ruling on this matter?
If the women are confident that there is no danger of the driver abducting or harming them, then this situation does not fall under the ruling of unlawful khalwah (seclusion).
However, if the distance qualifies as a sharʿī travel (safar)—a distance that permits the shortening of prayers—then it is not permissible for a woman to travel without a maḥram, regardless of how many women are in the group.
– Fatwā by Shaykh Muqbil ibn Hādī al-Wādiʿī رحمه الله
❖ Question:
Some women, when intending to travel a long distance, gather in groups of two or three or more and ride in a vehicle. What is the ruling on this matter?
❖ Answer:
If the women are confident that there is no danger of the driver abducting or harming them, then this situation does not fall under the ruling of unlawful khalwah (seclusion).
However, if the distance qualifies as a sharʿī travel (safar)—a distance that permits the shortening of prayers—then it is not permissible for a woman to travel without a maḥram, regardless of how many women are in the group.
– Fatwā by Shaykh Muqbil ibn Hādī al-Wādiʿī رحمه الله
