Is It Permissible To Go For Hajj And Umrah Without A Mahram?
Hajj together with Umrah is an Islamic Pilgrimage to the holiest city for Muslims and females can also perform Umrah and Hajj just like males. However, certain rules are different for women regarding their journey to Makkah for Umrah or Hajj. They are bound to go with a Mehram for holy pilgrimage. Islamic rules state that a Mehram is a male who is connected to women through marital relation, breastfeeding or blood relation.
Mehram must be above the age of puberty for accompanying her during Umrah or Hajj journey. By Islam, it is sinful to go for pilgrimage with a fake Mehram. Islam is a religion that supports weak and vulnerable. It is a fact that women are physically and emotionally weak as compared to men. Their capacity to deal with trouble situations is less as compared to men. That’s why they need support from the man whom they trust blindly.
Why does a woman needs Mehram?
This is a very important question if males can go for pilgrimage independently then why women are not allowed? Well, Islam is a complete religion in all aspects and women are given huge respect in Islam. For the sake of maintaining their dignity and respect, it is mandatory for women to perform Umrah and Hajj with a Mehram partner.
Another reason is that women are safe inside their homes at night. Hence, it is not a good practice to spend the night out of home alone even though they would be spending it in the holiest land. Hence the condition of going with a Mehram is basically to protect the honor of a woman.
General Rules for women to perform Umrah or Hajj:
If you have been thinking is it permissible to go for hajj and Umrah without a mehram then do not get worried becaue here you are going to know about the rules very clearly. These are the rules proposed by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj:
Women under 45 years of age:
If you are under the age of 45 years then you are not allowed to go for Hajj and Umrah performance without a Mehram. It is a must to provide relationship status between male and female to the authorities along with application.
Women of 45 years of above:
If you are 45 years old or even more then you can definitely go for performing Umrah and Hajj to Saudi Arabia without any Mehram.
If you will research about Umrah Packages from UK, you will come to know that there are some travel agents that show a fake mehram in documentation. In fact, there are many people who travel for pilgrimage with fake mehram. Anyways, you should think it on your own how right it is to go for a spiritual journey with such a big lie! You or your travel agent would provide you Umrah Packages from UK could cheat Saudi Authorities but you can never Cheat Allah Almighty.
