Dought & clear, - The Muslim Woman, - • Necessity of a mahram to accompany a woman when she travels, even ifit is a short trip.

We live in the country. Sometimes I like to visit my uncle who lives
in a city that is 50 km furtherthan us. I have to use mixed
transportation and go alone because my father thinks it is very
expensive to use transportation. He leaves the matter of meeting my
uncle or notup to me. There is no other place I can go to. I visit my
uncle every 5-8 months. Am I allowed to travel without a mahram?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The saheeh Sunnah indicates that it is not permissible for a womanto
travel without a mahram. This includes both long trips and shorttrips,
according to the majority of scholars. Everything that is called
travelling is forbidden for a woman unless she has a mahram with her.
Al-Bukhaari (1792) and Muslim (2391) narrated that Ibn 'Abbaas (may
Allaah be pleased with him) said: The Prophet(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: 'No woman should travel except with a
Mahram, and no man should enter upon a woman unless her Mahram is with
her.' A man said, 'O Messenger of Allaah, I want to go out with
such-and-such an army and my wife wants to go to Hajj.' He said, 'Go
to Hajj with her.'"
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him)said in Sharh Saheeh Muslim,
explaining that travel here does not refer to a specific distance:
Everything that is called travelling, it is forbiddenfor a woman to do
without her husband or a mahram, whether it is three days, two days or
one day, or anything else, because of the hadeeth of Ibn 'Abbaas,
according to which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: "No woman should travel without a mahram." Thisincludes
everything that is called travel. And Allaah knows best.
End quote.
And it says inFataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa'imah(17/339): It is haraam fora
woman to travel without a mahram in all cases, whether the journey is
long or short. End quote.
Based on this, if this distance is regarded by people in your country
as travelling, then it is not permissible for you to travel without a
mahram. But you will be rewarded for your intention, in sha Allaah,
and you can maintain ties with your uncle by telephone, and that will
be sufficient in sha Allaah.
And Allaah knows best.

Dought & clear, - The Muslim Woman, - • She is not allowed to wear hijab, so how can she go out to work and meet her needs?.

My question is about hijab. Women here are forbidden to wear hijab and
they are treated badly in addition to the fact that they are not
allowed to enter their workplaces or other places such as police
stations, so they have nochoice but to take off their hijab. What is
the solution, especially sincewe have to meet our own needs and
especially at work?.
Praise be to Allaah.
For a woman to wear hijab in front of non-mahram men is an obligation
that is indicated in the Qur'aan and Sunnah and by scholarly
consensus. It is not permissible for anyone to enjoin otherwise or to
prevent those who want to follow this command, otherwise he is going
against the command and laws of Allaah. Allaah says (interpretation of
the meaning):
"It is not for a believer, man or woman, when Allaah and His
Messengerhave decreed a matter that they should have any option in
their decision. And whoever disobeys Allaah and His Messenger, he has
indeed strayed into a plain error"
[al-Ahzaab 33:36]
"And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger (Muhammadصلى الله
عليه وسلم( after the right path has been shown clearly to him, and
follows other than the believers' way, We shall keep him in the path
he has chosen, and burn him in Hell — what an evil destination!"
[al-Nisa' 4:115]
"But no, by your Lord, they can have noFaith, until they make you (O
Muhammadصلى الله عليهوسلم( judge in all disputes between them,and find
in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them)
with full submission"
[al-Nisa' 4:65]
Secondly:
It is not permissible for awoman to be careless about this obligation
or to go out of her house with any part of her body uncovered, unless
she is forced to do so in a case of necessity that makes that which is
haraam permissible, such as if she is summoned to a police-station,
and she cannot avoid going there because that would result in harm to
herself or her property.
As for going out to work,if she does not have to do that because what
she is given by her husband or father or other relative who is obliged
to support her issufficient for her, then it is not permissible for
herto go out to work if that will result in her taking off her hijab.
The Muslims have to cooperate with regard to this matter and ensure
that Muslim women are independentof means so that they are not
compelled to go out in ways that involve sin. That may be achieved by
calling on fathers and relatives to spend generously on them and to
provide some useful work that women can do in their homes, so that
they will have no need to go out for any reason that may lead to them
taking off their hijab and exposingthem to harm because ofwearing it.
This depends on convincing the men that hijaab is obligatory, because
many of them do not care about that, and some of them are keen for
their wives and daughters to go out and work, and some of them will
not agree to marry awoman who does not work, even if her work means
that she has to take off the hijaab. This ignorance and shortcoming on
the part of the men is one of the greatest causes of this problem, and
one of the reasons why the matter is not being resolved. We should
strive to spread this knowledge, remind people of it and train them to
follow it, so that every man will bekeen to protect his family and
dependents, and will realize that he will be questioned tomorrow about
this trust – did he take care of it or not? The Prophet(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "There is no personto whom
Allaah entrusts the care of others and he does not take care of them
sincerely, but he will not even smell the fragrance of Paradise."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (7150) and Muslim (142).
In fact, Muslims are individually obliged to strive to remove this
evil,and to adopt all the necessary means of achieving that, through
organizations and associations etc., so as torelieve their women of
hardship and enable every Muslim woman to wear her hijab. They should
not despair and give up on doing this duty. How many rights have been
restored to people by means of patience, effort and striving.
Thirdly:
If a woman is in dire straits and cannot find any alternative to going
out to work because she has no one to support her, and she is also
forced to take off the hijab, then if she is able to migrate to a land
where she will be able to practise her religion openly and obey the
commands of her Lord, she is obliged to do so.
Ibn al-'Arabi said inAhkaam al-Qur'aan(1/612):
Migration (hijrah) from dar al-kufr (kaafir lands) to dar al-Islam
(Muslim lands) is obligatory.
And from a land where innovation is widespread. Imam Maalik (may
Allaah have mercy on him) said: It is not permissible for anyone to
settle in a land in which the salaf are reviled.
And from a land in which haraam things areprevalent, for seeking
halaal is an obligation for every Muslim.
But not everyone may beable to migrate, and it cannot be regarded as a
solution for all Muslim women.
If a women really needs to go out of her house towork or do some
errands etc, and the matter is limited to uncovering the face only,
then we hope that there is nothing wrong with her doing that.
But we must strive to solve this problem completely, as stated above,
by advising thosewho are in positions of responsibility and askingthem
for this religious and personal right. The daa'iyahs who call people
to Allaah and the scholars have to explain to the people that hijab is
an obligation that Allaah has enjoined upon the Muslim women.
It is very strange that wesee this intense war against hijab, the
symbolof chastity and purity, and at the same time wesee that the door
is wideopen for immoral and promiscuous women.
Be patient, O believing women, for the reward of Allaah is precious
and there will come a day in which the religion of Allaah will prevail
over all other religions.
"It is He Who has sent HisMessenger (Muhammadصلى الله عليه وسلم(
withguidance and the religion of truth )Islam(, to make it superior
over all religions even thoughthe Mushrikoon)polytheists, pagans,
idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allaah( hate )it("
[al-Tawbah 9:33]
"And Allaah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of
men know not" [Yoosuf 12:21
We ask Allaah to guide this ummah so that people of obedience willbe
honoured and peopleof disobedience will be humiliated, , and to help
you and all the Muslim women to adhere to hijab and give up wanton
display and unveiling.
And Allaah knows best.

Power and Worth of Bismillah: I can walk on water

Syed Murtadha was a great aalim (scholar) wholived many years ago. He
had many students who attended his classes.
At one of his classes he noticed that one of the students always came
late. One day Syed Murtadha asked the student "Why are you always
late?"
The student replied that he lived across the river and always took the
first ferry across but the ferry service did not start any earlier.
Syed Murtadha wrote something on a piece of paper, folded it and
gaveit to the student. "Keep this with you" he said"and you will be
able to walk across the river from tomorrow - but do not open the
paper."
The next day the student got to the river and put his foot tentatively
on the water. He could not believe that he could actually walk on the
water.
For the next few days, he got to the classes on time.
One day, he could not hold back his curiosity. He looked inside the
folded piece of paper. Onit was written Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In
the name of Allah, the beneficent the merciful).
For a moment he thought- "Is this all that helps me walk on water!" He
put the paper in his pocket asusual and went to the river to go to his
classes. This time he could not walk on the water and had to wait for
the ferry. This meant that he was late for his class.
When the class was over, Syed Murtadha called himover and said "You
looked into the paper when I had told you not to!"
With Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the name of Allah, the beneficent
the merciful) you can move mountains provided you have trust and faith
in Allah.

Worth and Significance of Bismillah: Ring in the Stomach of the Fish

There was once a lady who always said Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the
name of Allah, the beneficent the merciful) before she did anything.
She knew that Allah would then always be with her. One day, sheput her
ring in the cupboard and as usual she said Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
(In the name of Allah, the beneficent the merciful) before she put it
away. She knew that it would be safe.
Her husband took the ring and threw it in the river. He wanted to
proveto her that only saying Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the name of
Allah, the beneficent the merciful) would not keepit safe. He thought
that inthe evening he would ask her where the ring was and it would
not be there.
Later that morning, the lady went to the market to buy some fish. When
she was cleaning the fish at home she found her ring inside the
stomach of the fish. She wondered how it got there but then put it
backin its place in the cupboard saying Bismillahirrahmanirrahim (In
the name of Allah, the beneficent the merciful).
When her husband came back from work, he asked her where the ringwas.
She brought it from the cupboard. He was so surprised!
He told her what he had done and apologized to her. He also truly
believed that Allah is with the person who
saysBismillahirrahmanirrahim (In the name of Allah, the beneficent the
merciful) before he/she does anything.