# Is it haram for a woman to travel more than 48 miles alone?

*From Abu Hanifa's three days to the 48-mile rule*

- URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/jp8gjvvonms/s/4/
- Date: 2018-04-22 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Hadith Analysis & Fatwa: Women Can Travel Without a Mahram - Mufti Abu Layth (15:45–19:38)
- Status: general teaching
- Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp8GjvVONMs&t=945s
- Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/jp8gjvvonms/

**Topics:** Interaction between men and women; The Hanafi school and Imam Abu Hanifa; Women in Islam

**Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** No: Mufti Abu Layth calls the 48-mile rule absurd, a later Hanafi hardening of Abu Hanifa's three-day limit, which was itself meant to ease things for women.

**Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says forbidding a woman to travel 48 miles is absurd and makes a mockery of the religion.

**Evidence, his words at 19:01:** “know that final step that's gonna make it 48 miles that's one small step for a woman one giant leap this is absurd this is ridiculous this one is making mockery of the religion” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp8GjvVONMs&t=1141s)

## Longer summary

Mufti Abu Layth says Abu Hanifa was actually trying to make life easy for the women of his time, since most scholars held she could not travel on any journey, so he took the longest span, three days and nights, allowing shorter journeys unaccompanied. He says his school later did something else: Ibn Abidin [?], building on others, adopted one day and one night instead and converted it into 48 miles, making a woman Islamically incapable of travelling that far. Mufti says this is now taught in the UK, citing 2016 newspaper reports that a Muslim association in Blackburn had advised that it is impermissible for a woman to travel 48 miles. He mocks the idea that 47 miles is permitted but the final step is haram, calling it absurd and a mockery of the religion.

## Sources and names cited

- Abu Hanifa
- Ibn Abidin [?]
- Hanafi

## Transcript (machine tier, 15:45–19:38)

[15:06] the luck and the control that the hanafi madhhab had was a notorious one right so this is y and this is y if no hammam is one of those scholars who actually does disagree with the Hanafi method on a few issues and faces a hell of a lot of slack for it that they actually kind of they've almost dissed him to an opinion that they don't like taking his his anymore within the Hanafi mother and his own student was somebody that disowned him so you can see what they were suffering from so right so that's coming

[15:45] to this issue and I wanna I'd like to highlight here that you know imam abu hanifa was actually trying to create ease for the woman in his time most of the ulama were going with the understanding that a woman couldn't travel on any journey so he said he took the longest journey which was three whole days and nights so if a woman is to go off on her own for three whole days he said that that's the one we're going to take and in any short journey

[16:25] she can travel unaccompanied imam abu hanifa was actually trying to make life easy for the women around him what his mother hub of entually started to do was a whole different story okay they then converted this into miles they then like even Abby Dean who really just puts this Eve Nabi Deen you know there's a great scholar but what he did to the hanafi madhhab and I suppose he wasn't the first person but he kind of seals it he turns it into something else honestly he

[17:03] kind of officially turns it other people before him had already kind of set up this rigid approach and he just kind of locks it into place he says that we're going to not go with Abu Hanifah thing we're gonna go with this one day and one night and and then we're gonna he also reinforces that this should be converted into miles which makes 48 miles and a woman is incapable like she is Islamically incapable of traveling 48 miles and then the shocking thing is okay forget the fact that even a Abby Dean said that people here in the West

[17:42] in the UK are teaching this now can you believe this so and what's worse is that the UK media has picked up on it so the UK media the independent had an article and the Daily Mail picked up an article in 2016 saying that the Blackburn Muslim Association what it whatever that is for some Association are advising all their Islamic kind of adherents that it is impermissible for a woman to travel 48 miles and if she does she is deserving

[18:22] of the Hellfire okay she's and this is absurd so you will get women that they allowed to travel 47 miles they allowed to travel 40 7.90 but that final step in eternity you choose that final step this is this one her arm this this step this this just one more one small step one giant leap into the unknown so that you

[19:01] know that final step that's gonna make it 48 miles that's one small step for a woman one giant leap this is absurd this is ridiculous this one is making mockery of the religion you know this is a mockery of the Deen okay so we're making a mockery people right so now I'm going to come back to arms taking a look at these issues right so these issues people and let's let me give you another example and like the the hanafis the

[19:37] seller fees especially the saudi seller fees Oh Baba the Saudi seller fees both oh you know these Hannah fees in can be Berkeley layer above the moon they're like whoa they like hmm you think that's controlling will show you controlling so look check this out the Fatah WA that the board of fatwa in Saudi Arabia for tower legend at that

## Cite

Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment jp8GjvVONMs/s/4. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/jp8gjvvonms/s/4/

Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.