Can I Follow Another Madhhab When Traveling?

Ustadh Tabraze Azam is asked about taking a dispensation from another madhhab in one thing and how that affects other actions.

Question:

Assalam alaykum wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.

I am Hanafi. In the Hanafi madhhab, it is not permissible for a woman to travel without a mahram. However, this website states that their is a reliable opinion within the Maliki that allows travel without a mahram subject to certain conditions.

So my question is, if I am traveling do I need to do everything according to the Maliki madhhab – e.g., praying according to Malikis, doing wudu with rubbing whole head etc. – in order to avoid talfiq (impermissible mixing)? Or can I continue with my normal worship as a Hanafi and just take rukhsa (dispensation) for the issue of travel?

Jazak Allah khayr.

Answer:

Wa alaykum assalam wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh.

You may take the Maliki dispensation permitting travel, with its requisite conditions, while continuing to pray as normal according to your chosen school of law (madhhab). Travel isn’t inextricably connected to prayer.

Impermissible mixing between legal schools (talfiq) is understood to be in the context of a single action such that no school would deem the action to be valid. When dealing with separate actions, it is acceptable to join between them if there is a need to do so.

Please also see Can a Woman Travel Alone for More Than 48 Miles If There Is a Benefit?, Can I Travel by Plane Without a Mahram? and A Reader on Following Schools of Thought (Madhabs).

And Allah Most High knows best.

Wassalam,

Tabraze Azam

Checked and approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.