{"id":7094,"date":"2016-09-11T14:49:37","date_gmt":"2016-09-11T18:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?p=7094"},"modified":"2016-09-11T14:49:37","modified_gmt":"2016-09-11T18:49:37","slug":"hajj-and-the-single-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2016\/09\/hajj-and-the-single-woman\/","title":{"rendered":"Hajj and the Single Woman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Image<\/a>
Image source: Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

By Laura P.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hajj season is always somewhat bittersweet for me.<\/p>\n

For a number of years after I converted, I didn\u2019t have enough savings to contemplate going on hajj. More recently, as my financial situation improved for the better and as I remosqued, I began to look more seriously into what would be necessary to undertake the pilgrimage.<\/p>\n

Here I discovered a major roadblock: As a convert I have no Muslim relatives, and I have chosen not to marry<\/a>. The hajj, it turns out, is not accessible for a woman without a man.<\/p>\n

Under the rules set by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, a woman who wishes to obtain a hajj visa must either be accompanied by a Muslim mahram<\/em> (adult male relative), or be over the age of 45 and submit a notarized \u201cno objection\u201d letter from a husband, son, or brother, then travel with a group. The U.S. State Department hajj visa page<\/a> informs me that, \u201cViolators face deportation.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m 43 now, so the age limit of 45 is not such a concern \u2013 but does my non-Muslim dad count for the \u201cno objection\u201d letter? The rules don\u2019t seem to imagine that a woman can exist without having a mahram<\/em>, only that he is not able to accompany her. Where do I fit in?<\/p>\n

Being a woman with no Muslim mahram<\/em> makes a lot of situations challenging for me, especially at the mosque<\/a> when women are often cut off from the imam and rely on a husband or male family member to provide that connection. However, I\u2019m used to being marginalized in Muslim spaces because of this.<\/p>\n

But to be cut off entirely from a major act of worship, one of the \u201cfive pillars\u201d of Islam, is something else again. I\u2019m physically and financially able to make hajj. If I were a man, there wouldn\u2019t be a problem. But as a woman, because I don\u2019t have the right kind of relationship to the right kind of man (i.e., a Muslim mahram<\/em>), hajj is closed to me.<\/p>\n

The problem isn\u2019t with traditional fiqh \u2013 the exemption<\/a> allowing women to travel with a group is well-known \u2013 \u00a0it\u2019s with the rules set by Saudi Arabia. As the State Department notes, trying to enter a country without a visa, or with a visa that was improperly or fraudulently obtained, is grounds for deportation.<\/p>\n

The rules of the hajj\u2019s host country would deem my presence there illegal, my state of being unimaginable or impossible. As an unmarried convert \u2013 a woman without a man who dares to make her own way through life \u2013 it seems that I am anathema to Saudi Arabia, and my worship of Allah at His house is not wanted or allowed.<\/p>\n

I find this a bitter pill to swallow, especially knowing that the traditional rules of the religion do not place such a restriction on me. It is patriarchy that cuts me off, patriarchy that treats women as children who need a man\u2019s permission to go about our business even when that business is religious worship, and patriarchy that values a woman by her relationship to a man and not as amatullah<\/em> \u2013 a female servant of Allah, equal in His eyes and made equally responsible for fulfilling His commands.<\/p>\n

Because the hajj can only be done in one place, I have no choice but to accede to this patriarchal system, even though its man-made rules place restrictions on me that the deen<\/em> does not.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/a>
Image source: Author<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And so another hajj season passes and I remain at home, asking Allah to accept my prayers, fasting, and Quran from a distance. To fulfill His promise not to lose the work of any worker, whether male or female (Quran 3:195). To recognize the limitations which bind me and to reward my patience. And to, some day, open a way for me and other women like me to complete a pilgrimage to His house.<\/p>\n

Laura P is a convert who lives near Seattle. Her writing has appeared at Love InshAllah, AltMuslimah, Hindtrospectives, and Patheos Altmuslim. She volunteers with the <\/em>Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative<\/em><\/a> and with <\/em>Rabata<\/em><\/a>.\u00a0 Follow her on Twitter at <\/em>@muhajabah<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Laura P. Hajj season is always somewhat bittersweet for me. For a number of years after I converted, I didn\u2019t have enough savings to contemplate going on hajj. More recently, as my financial situation improved for the better and as I remosqued, I began to look more seriously into what would be necessary to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":590,"featured_media":7096,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,666],"tags":[76,26,1828,153,63,1827,341],"class_list":["post-7094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-hajj-and-dhul-hijjah","tag-hajj","tag-islam","tag-marginalized","tag-patriarchy","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-single-woman","tag-women"],"yoast_head":"\nHajj and the Single Woman<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Laura P. Hajj season is always somewhat bittersweet for me. 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