Abu 'Abd Allah [Ahmad] said: As for Abu Hurayrah, he says: "For a day and a night." And it is narrated from Abu Hurayrah: "She must not travel at all," also. As for the hadith of Abu Sa'id, he says: "Three days." I said: What do you say? He said: She must not travel, whether for a short or long journey, except with a mahram. Al-Daraqutni narrated (7) with his chain of narration from Ibn 'Abbas that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "A woman must not perform Hajj unless she has a mahram with her." This is explicit regarding the ruling. And because she has initiated a journey within the Abode of Islam, it is not permissible without a mahram, just like supererogatory Hajj. Their hadith is interpreted as applying to the man, evidenced by the fact that they stipulated (8) the departure of someone else with her. Making that other person (9) the mahram whom the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) clarified in our hadiths is more appropriate than what they stipulated arbitrarily without evidence. It is possible that he meant that provisions and a mount make Hajj obligatory, along with the completion of the remaining conditions, and for this reason, they stipulated that the path be cleared, the possibility of travel, the settling of debts, and the maintenance of dependents. Malik also stipulated the ability to stay mounted on the beast, which is not mentioned in the hadith. Each one of them stipulated a condition in the disputed matter from their own perspective, not from the Book (10) or the Sunnah. Therefore, what the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) mentioned is more worthy of being stipulated. Even if one were to assume a contradiction, our hadith is more specific, more authentic, and more worthy of being prioritized. The hadith of 'Adi indicates the possibility of travel, not its permissibility; that is why it is not permissible in cases other than obligatory Hajj, and he did not mention in it the departure of someone else with her, whereas they have stipulated here the departure of someone else with her. As for the female captive when she escapes from the hands of the disbelievers, her journey is a journey of necessity, and a state of choice is not compared to it. For this reason, she may travel alone in such a case; and because she is repelling a certain harm by enduring a speculative harm, so it is not required to endure such harm when there is no harm at all.

Section: The mahram is her husband, or someone with whom marriage is forbidden forever, due to kinship or a permissible cause