Srinagar: Jammu & Kashmir is the only Muslim dominated state of the country in which not a single woman applied for Hajj without mahram. According to new hajj policy, women above 45 years of age are allowed to travel to Makkah and perform Haj without a Mahram. According to government sources out of 32332 applications received no single women expressed wish to travel without male. According to an official of State Hajj Committee although no woman wished to travel alone, a large number of women applied with mahram.
Despite permission to travel for Hajj without ‘mahram’ women will be allowed to go for Hajj without mahram only after the approval of their school of thought (Maslak). They will have to enclose a letter of permission from their maslak.
It must be noted that among 4 schools of thoughts namely Hanafi, Shafai, Hambali and Maliki, only Shafai maslak allows women to perform Hajj without mahram, while the other three consider it as forbidden.