Did the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) perform Hajj without a mahram?
[English]
هل حجت زوجات النبي صلى
الله عليه وسلم بدون محرم ؟
[اللغة الإنجليزية]
Language:English
Iftaa:Muhammad Salih Al-Munajjid
Short Discription:A question answered by Shaikh Muhammad
Salih Al-Munajjid regarding: ”The wives of the holy Prophet (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) performed Haj many times after his death. Can this be
taken as a daleel that a woman may perform Haj without a mahram but with a
group of women who have their Mahrams with them.”
Did the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah
be upon him) perform Hajj without a mahram?
The wives of the holy
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) performed Hajj many times
after his death. Can this be taken as a daleel that a woman may perform Hajj
without a mahram but with a group of women who have their Mahrams with them.
Praise be to Allah.
The correct scholarly view is that that of the Hanafis and
Hanbalis who say that it is not permissible for a woman to travel for Hajj or
for any other purpose without a mahram, because the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “No woman should travel except with a mahram.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari
(1862) and Muslim (1341).
But some scholars, such as the Shaafa’is and Maalikis, and some of
the salaf, were of the view that it is permissible for a woman to travel for
Hajj without a mahram, if she travels with a trustworthy group.
They quoted as evidence that which the questioner mentions, that
the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) did Hajj
without a mahram. That is mentioned in the report narrated by al-Bukhaari
(1860), that ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab (may Allah be pleased with him) gave
permission to the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him) during the last Hajj that he performed, and he sent ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan
and ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf with them.
The scholars who hold the first view quote a number of things as
evidence, including the following:
1 – They said that it does not say in the hadith that they did not
have a mahram with them. Perhaps their mahrams were with them in the caravan of
Hajj itself, and ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab sent ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan and ‘Abd
al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf with them as an additional sign of respect and for extra
peace of mind. It cannot be thought that the Sahaabah would go against the
Prophet’s prohibition on women travelling without mahrams, especially since
some reports – even though their isnaads are somewhat questionable –
indicate that their mahrams were present.
Ibn al-Jawzi narrated in al-Muntazam, concerning the events of 23
AH, that Abu ‘Uthmaan, Abu Haarithah and al-Rabee’ said: ‘Umar did Hajj with
the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), with whom
were their mahrams before whom they did not have to observe hijab. At the front
of their caravan he put ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf and at the rear he put
‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan …
Moreover, it is highly unlikely that their mahrams would not be present,
since so many people travelled for Hajj with them from Madinah. It is most
likely that there would be a brother, grandfather, maternal uncle, paternal
uncle or another mahram through breastfeeding, because breastfeeding of other
people’s children was very common at that time.
2 – If we assume that there were no mahrams with them, then that
may have been an ijtihaad on their part. It is well known that the ijtihaad of
the Sahaabah cannot be accepted if it goes against a sound text narrated from
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Al-San’aani (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
That cannot be taken as evidence, because there is no
consensus.
Subul al-Salaam (2/930).
3 – A third group of scholars argued that this was something that
applied only to the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him), because they were the Mothers of the Believers, and all men were their
mahrams.
Abu Haneefah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
All the people were mahrams for ‘Aa’ishah, so no matter who she
travelled with, she was travelling with a mahram, but that does not apply for
any women other than her. End quote.
‘Umdat al-Qaari’ (10/220).
But this answer of Abu Haneefah is not acceptable, because the
wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) were the
Mothers of the Believers with regard to marriage, but they were not mahrams. If
the Mothers of the Believers were mahrams it would have been permissible for
them to take off their hijabs in front of them, be alone with them etc., and no
one would suggest such a thing.
Ibn Taymiyah says in Manhaaj al-Sunnah (4/207) of the wives of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): They are the Mothers of the
Believers in the sense that it is haraam for anyone else to marry them, not in
the sense that they are mahrams. End quote.
The best answer is the first one.
To conclude: it is not permissible to reject Sahih hadeeths
because of interpretations of some of the deeds of the Sahaabah which may be interpreted
in more than one way. What is required is to follow that which is proven and
not that which is subject to different interpretations.
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) was
asked: They say that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) did Hajj with
‘Uthmaan without a mahram.
He replied:
This requires evidence. It is not permissible to say that she did
Hajj without a mahram with no evidence. She must have had a mahram. She had her
brother’s sons, she had her brother ‘Abd al-Rahmaan, she had the sons of her
sister Asma’. The one who says that she did Hajj without a mahram is lying
unless he can offer proof. Moreover, even if we assume that she did Hajj
without a mahram, then she was not infallible; none of the Sahaabah were
infallible. Evidence is that which was said by Allah and His Messenger; the
view of So and so is not evidence. Whatever goes against the Sunnah cannot be
regarded as evidence. Evidence is to be found in the Sahih Sunnah. This is what
is well known among the scholars, and it is that on which there is consensus.
Al-Shaafa’i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The people are
unanimously agreed that once the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and
blessings of Allah be upon him) has become clear to a person, he has no right
overlook it and follow the view of any person.
Maalik (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The view of any of us
may be accepted or rejected, except the occupant of this grave (meaning the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)).
What is meant is that what is required of the people of Islam and
the believers is to accept the Sunnah, and it should not be ignored because of
the views of this person or that person. Moreover, ‘Aa’ishah should not be
thought of as going against the Sunnah, when she was a well known faqeehah and
the most knowledgeable of the world’s women, and she is the one who heard
ahaadeeth from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon
him). End quote.
Fataawa al-Shaykh Ibn Baaz (25/361, 362)
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
If someone were to say: This hadith does not say that there was a
mahram with them. Can it be said that the case of the wives of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was different because they were the
Mothers of the Believers, not in the sense of their being mahrams but as a sign
of respect? Or can it be said that nothing is said here about mahrams, but he
sent these two noble Sahaabis with the mahrams? The first is possible, and so
is the second.
If we accept the principle that the ambiguous should be understood
in the light of what is clear and definitive, what can we say?
The answer is that we accept the second possibility, and we say
that there must have been mahrams with them, but these two noble Sahaabis were
sent with them as an honour and a sign of respect towards the Mothers of the
Believers (may Allah be pleased with them). End quote.
Sharh Kitaab al-Hajj min Sahih al-Bukhaari (tape no. 19, side
2).
And Allah knows best.
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