Pakistani women 'conditionally' allowed to perform Hajj without mahram

• CII conditions Hajj and Umrah for women sans mahram. 
• Jafria, Maliki, Shafi’i schools allow women to perform Hajj without mahram.
• Hanafi, Hanbali sects say Hajj not obligatory without mahram.

ISLAMABAD: Conditional permission has been granted to Pakistani women allowing them to perform Hajj without a mahram after the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) gave a conditional nod, reported The News.

In response to a query from the Religious Affairs Ministry, the CII said there was a provision in sharia for a woman to perform Hajj or Umrah without a mahram, according to the Jafria, Maliki and Shafi’i schools of thought.

The ministry had earlier sought the council's opinion on the matter, after which the constitutional body responded via a written reply which read that a woman whose parents or husband allow her, could go for Hajj without a mahram, as per the Jafria, Maliki and Shafi’i schools of thought.

Meanwhile, the performance of Hajj for a woman is not an obligation (farz) if she does not have a male mahram, according to the Hanafi and Hanbali schools of thought.

It may be pointed out here that the Saudi government in October last year had allowed women from across the world to perform Hajj and Umrah without a mahram.

The CII, however, has conditioned the performance of Hajj for a woman without a mahram in line with the edict of the three schools of thought — Jafria, Maliki and Shafi’i — with the company of trustworthy women in a group.

It also said that the Religious Affairs Ministry should properly scrutinise a Hajj group in which a woman wants to perform religious obligation without a mahram.