Assalaamu alaikum Tony Alhamdulillah and may Allah reward you for increasing my knowledge about the hadith. I also checked Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim and got many hadiths relating to the topic. In fact, Imaam Muslim arranges hadith and their title headings according to jurisprudential rulings. Below you will see how he (may Allah have mercy on him) treated the subject. Again, he is also in consonnance with a lot of great jurisprudents, both past and contemporary with regard to the issue. The apparent contradictions in hadith are areas that require very sound knowledge of jurisprudence for one to decipher. It often requires 'comparative fiqh' (examining the rulings of great fuqaha- from the Sahaba down to the present). This enables the jurisconsult a wide view of the issue by comparing all the rulings related to the issue and the evidences backing them. If you are familiar with the Fatawa of Ibn Taymiyya ( runs into about 37 or so volumes and available at Ummul Qura Islamic foundation at Fajikunda) you will see what I'm trying to say. Often a question is posed to Ibn Taymiyya, and in answering he will bring forth the relevant ayaat, hadith, the statements and rulings of the Sahaba, their followers and sthe students of the followers as well as the four great Imaams of the schools of thought (Imaam Abu Hanifa, Malik, Shafi'i and ibn Hanbal). The standing committee which gave the fatwa I posted normally operate on this kind of methodology. In fact, Dr Azizah al-Hibri (whose article on family-planning you posted) also used the same method. That is why I said I will strive to find the reason why great Imaams such as al-Auza'i, Malik and Shafi'i differed from their contemporaries on the issue at hand. Or what leeway they gave about the issue. The debate is very healthy Tony, and I commend you for your excellent temperament on issues of this nature. I think, given the wealth of information that is popping up about the issue, we should continue on researching the issue detailedly. We shuold get in touch with as many scholars as possible or their positions on this pertinent subject. To that end, I pray that Allah increase us in knowledge and make our hearts content with what is most just. Imaam Muslim wrote: Chapter 72: TRAVELLING OF A WOMAN WITH HER MAHRAM FOR HAJJ, ETC. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7, Number 3096: Ibn Umar (Allah be pleased with them) reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: A woman should not set out on three (days' journey) except when she has a Mahram with her. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3097: This hadith has been narrated on the same authority by Ubaidullah. And in the narration of Abu Bakr (the words are): "More than three (days)." Ibn Numair narrated on the authority of his father, (and the words are): "Three (days) except (when) she has a Mahram with her." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3098: 'Abdullah b. Umar (Allah -be pleased with them) reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Hereafter to travel for more than three nights journey except when there is a Mahram with her. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3099: Qaza'ah reported: I heard a hadith from Abu Sa'id (Allah be pleased with him) and it impressed me (very much), so I said to him: Did you hear it (yourself) from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) ? Thereupon he said: (Can) I speak of anything about Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) which I did not bear? He said: I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) saying: Do not set out on a journey (for religious devotion) but for the three mosques-for this mosque of mine (at Medina) the Sacred Mosque (at Mecca), and the Mosque al-Aqsa (Bait al-Maqdis), and I heard him saying also: A woman should not travel for two days duration, but only when there is a Mahram with her or her husband. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3100: Qaza'ah reported: I heard Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) saying: I heard four things from Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) which impressed me and captivated me (and one out of these is this), that he forbade a woman to undertake journey extending over two days but with her husband, or with a Mahram; and he then narrated the rest of the hadith. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3101: Abu Sa'id (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: A woman should not set out on three (days') journey, but in the company of a Mahram. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3102: Abu Sa'id Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: A woman should not set out on a journey extending beyond three nights but with a Mahram. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3103: This hadith has been narrated on the authority of Qatada with the same chain of transmitters and he said: "More than three (days) except in the company of a Mahram." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3104: Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: It is not lawful for a Muslim woman to travel a night's journey except when there is a Mahram with her. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3105: Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Apostle (may peace be upon him) as saying: It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Hereafter to undertake a day's journey except in the company of a Mahram. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3106: Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: It is not lawful for a woman believing in Allah and the Hereafter to undertake journey extending over a day and a night except when there is a Mahram with her. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3107: Abu Huraira (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: It is not lawful for a woman to undertake three (days,) journey except when there is a Mahram with her. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3108: Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (Allah be pleased with him) reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: It is not lawful for a woman believing in Allah and the Hereafter to undertake journey extending over three days or more, except when she is in the company of her father, or her son, or her husband, or her brother, or any other Mahram. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3109: A hadith like this has been narrated by A'mash with the same chain of transmitters. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3110: Ibn 'Abbas (Allah be pleased with them) reported: I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) delivering a sermon and making this observation: "No person should be alone with a woman except when there is a Mahram with her, and the woman should not undertake journey except with a Mahram." A person stood up and said: Allah's Messenger, my wife has set out for pilgrimage, whereas I am enlisted to fight in such and such battle, whereupon he said: "You go and perform Hajj with your wife." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3111: A hadith like this has been narrated by 'Amr on the authority of the same chain of transmitters. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book 7 ,Number 3112: Ibn Juraij narrated this hadith with the same chain of transmitters, but he made no mention of it: "No person should be alone with a woman except when there is a Mahram with her." Allahumma salli wasallim alaa Nabiyyina Muhammad. Wasalaam. Modou Mbye