JonSnow Staff asked 4 years ago
I intended performing hajj this year. Can my father’s uncle’s wife accompany me? When my parents passed away three years ago, she has been treating me like a mother and tending to me. I even regard her to be a mother to me. She is now 60 or 65 years old. Can i take her along with me for hajj?
JonSnow Staff answered 4 years ago
The wife of your father’s paternal uncle is not mahram to you since it would be permissible for you to marry her. You may therefore not take her for hajj, even though hajj may be farz for her. Both of you will be guilty of contravening the instructions of Allah and Rasoolullah (saw) if you do. Rasoolullah (saw) made it clear that no (non-mahram) man and woman should be alone togethe and that no woman may travel without a mahram accompanying her. Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbas (ra) reports that Rasoolullah (saw) said, ” A woman may not perform hajj without a mahram.” In another hadith, Rasoolullah (saw) said, “It is nor permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last day to travel a distance of three or more days without her father, son, husband, brother or mahram.” Fataawa Qaadhi Khan (Vol. 1 Pg 87) makes it evident that according to the consensus of the Oulama, even an old woman may not travel without a mahram or be alone with a non-mahram regardless of whether the man is young or old. When Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra) and his daughter Hazrat Aisha (ra) were seated alone, Rasoolullah (saw) advised them not to sit alone because shaitaan is never far off. He advised them to rather have someone else with them. This was despite the fact that they were both such pious people. Therefore, regardless of how close one may be with a non-mahram, she will always remain a non-mahram even if you may call her mother or sister. And Allah knows best what is most correct.