Can I Travel With the Qur’an In My Luggage?


Question: Assalam alaykum. Can we keep the Qur’an with my luggage and not in a handy bag during long-distance travel? Also, I want to know if can I travel alone without any mahram.

Answer:

Wa ‘alaykum assalam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.

 

Can I Keep a Mushaf In My Luggage?

Yes, it is permissible to keep a copy of the Qur’an in your luggage as long as it appropriately covered and kept away from impurities. It deserves to be treated with respect.

It might be easier to just take a digital copy on a phone or tablet when traveling. The Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) always choose the easier of two options as long as it was not a sin. [Bukhari]

 

Can a Lady Travel Alone?

In the Hanafi school, a lady can travel within the traveling distance alone. This is about 48 miles according to some scholars, and others calculate it closer to 57. Pick one and stick to it. [Zayla’i, Tabyin al Haqa’iq, Rida Khan, al-Fatawa al-Ridawiyya]

Traveling beyond that distance was considered impermissible due to many narrations from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace). Some contemporary scholars do permit travel beyond this distance if there is safety, such as someone to pick her up and drop her off at an airport, for example.

The other schools have some more lenient positions too. The former position is safer and more precautionary, however. Please refer to this answer too.

May Allah grant you the best of both worlds.
[Shaykh] Abdul-Rahim Reasat

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Abdul-Rahim Reasat began his studies in Arabic Grammar and Morphology in 2005. After graduating with a degree in English and History he moved to Damascus in 2007 where, for 18 months, he studied with many erudite scholars. In late 2008 he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continued his studies for the next six years in Sacred Law (fiqh), legal theory (Usul al-fiqh), theology, hadith methodology, hadith commentary, and Logic. He was also given licenses of mastery in the science of Quranic recital and he was able to study an extensive curriculum of Quranic sciences, tafsir, Arabic grammar, and Arabic eloquence.