Q. My mother came for pilgrimage in the company of my wife’s parents and a group of pilgrims. I joined them when it was time for the pilgrimage. Some people suggest that as she did not have a blood relation with her, she traveled without a mahram and her pilgrimage is invalid. Others say the reverse. Please clarify.
Nausheen
A. The important point to realize is that Islam takes care of women when it requires a woman to have a mahram accompanying her when she travels. The point is that in travel we may encounter different difficulties. Because many women are housewives, they may find things difficult if they were to travel on their own. Similarly, protection may be needed. All this is provided when a woman travels with a mahram, who is either her husband or a close relative whom she is not allowed to marry, such as a father, son, uncle or nephew. Scholars also say that a woman may travel for her obligatory pilgrimage with ‘safe company’, which means a group of pilgrims that includes women pilgrims with their mahrams.
In our modern days, if a woman is traveling by plane to a place where a mahram of hers lives, she does no wrong. Suppose you live in Riyadh and your mother comes from your home country by plane to visit you and then to do the pilgrimage, she does not need anyone to accompany her on the plane, because she is already in safe company. The same applies to other means of public transport, such as buses and trains.
Having said that, I should add that people often pronounce judgments of far-reaching significance, without checking whether they are right or not. For example, people who tell you that your mother’s pilgrimage is invalid do not know what they are talking about. If a woman travels for pilgrimage on her own, and she offers the pilgrimage without having any company, she does wrong, but her pilgrimage is, God willing, valid and acceptable. The violation of one rule does not render it totally invalid.
Voluntary Fasting
Q. Could you please explain about fasting 6 days in the month of Shawwal. Some people start to fast these on the 2nd day of the month. Should a woman fast these before she compensates for the days she missed in Ramadan as a result of her period? What about fasting on 13, 14 and 15 of each lunar month?
Saajidah
A. The Prophet has guided us to many aspects of worship which we may do voluntarily to earn reward from God and enhance our chances of admission to heaven on the Day of Judgment. For example, we offer Sunnah prayers with each of the five obligatory prayers. Such Sunnah is what it says: voluntary additional prayer, which means that if one does not do it, one is not questioned about it. If we do any such voluntary worship, we earn the reward God is pleased to grant for it.
Similarly, the Prophet recommended fasting as voluntary worship, and he pointed out certain days which are recommended to fast, but this is all voluntary. Among these are the six days people fast in Shawwal, and the three middle days of each month, which are known as the white days. He explains that fasting these six days after Ramadan makes one’s fasting equal to fasting the whole year. This is due to the fact that God reward any good deed with ten times its value. Thus, for fasting the month of Ramadan,
He rewards us for the fasting of ten months. If we add six more days, He increases our reward to the equivalent of fasting 60 days, or two months, to complete the year. The same applies to fasting three days each month. He chose those ‘white’ days because the moon is at its fullest in them which makes the nights bright.
Most people believe that the six days should be offered during the month of Shawwal, but it is probably more accurate to say that they can be done at any time during the year, because the Hadith speaks of ‘six days from Shawwal’, not ‘in Shawwal’.
As for a woman who has to compensate for her missed days in Ramadan, she starts with completing her obligatory fasting. She should not fast any voluntary day before she completes her obligatory fasting. When she has completed that, she may do any voluntary fasting she wants. Hence, the reading of the Hadith allowing the six days to be throughout the year makes things easier for women.
It is important to stress that with what the Prophet has recommended, it remains voluntary. It must not be elevated to the rank of obligatory or semi-obligatory worship. Nothing can be added to what God has made obligatory. Therefore, our approach to recommended worship should always be that it is recommended, not obligatory. This means that if we miss it, we commit no wrong and God will not ask us about what we missed.
Arab News Islam 11 April 2003
