Praise be to Allaah.
Yes, it is proven that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade that in several
ahaadeeth, including the following:
1-
It was narrated from Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah
be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “If people knew what I know about being alone, no rider
would travel at night by himself.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari (2998).
Imam Ahmad narrated this hadeeth in
al-Musnad (2/91) with some additional material in which it says:
The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) forbade being alone, for a man to spend the night alone
or travel alone.
But this report is regarded as shadhdh
(odd), and it is superseded by the report of al-Bukhaari for two reasons:
(a)
The report of
al-Bukhaari was narrated by nine of the companions of ‘Aasim ibn Muhammad
ibn Zayd ibn ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar from his father from Ibn ‘Umar, all of
whom mention travelling only and not spending the night. Only one of the
students of ‘Aasim ibn Muhammad, namely ‘Abd al-Waahid ibn Waasil, mentioned
the prohibition on spending the night alone. Although he was thiqah
(trustworthy), the report narrated by many thiqaat supersedes his report .
(b)
This is indicated by
a similar report from Ahmad, although the narrator does not mention the
specific wording of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him), unlike the report of the majority.
Hence the editors of Musnad Ahmad
(9/467), and Shaykh Muqbil al-Waadi’i in Ahadeeth Mu’allah (249),
ruled that the report of ‘Abd al-Waahid is shaadh (odd), unlike
Shaykh al-Albaani who ruled that it is saheeh, as stated in al-Silsilah
al-Saheehah (60).
The prohibition on spending the night alone
was narrated in a mursal report from ‘Ata’, as was narrated by Abu Dawood in
Kitaab al-Maraaseel (380) and Ibn Abi Shaybah in al-Musannaf
(7/726).
Al-Tabaraani narrated in al-Awsat
(2079) via Muhammad ibn al-Qaasim al-Asadi from Zuhayr ibn Mu’aawiyah from
Abu’l-Zubayr from Jaabir that the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) said: “If people knew what I know about being alone, no
rider would travel at night by himself and no man would sleep in a house by
himself.”
But this report is to be rejected because of
Muhammad ibn al-Qaasim al-Asadi, because he was accused of lying.
The prohibition on spending the night alone
was also narrated in some saheeh reports. It was narrated that ‘Umar ibn
al-Khattaab (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: No man should travel
alone or sleep in a house on his own.” End quote.
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
al-Silsilah al-Saheehah (1/130).
Imam Ahmad was asked about a man spending
the night alone. He said: I prefer him to avoid that. Quoted from
al-Adaab al-Shar’iyyah (1/428).
2-
It was narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Amr
ibn al-‘Aas that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “The (lone) rider is a devil, two riders are two devils and three
are a travelling party.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi (1674), who said it is a
hasan hadeeth. It was also classed as hasan by Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Baari
(6/53) and by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah (62).
These ahaadeeth indicate that it is makrooh
to be alone in situations where a man fears for himself because of weakness,
severe exhaustion or hardship, or when he fears that the shaytaan may tempt
him and mislead him. The benefit of being with righteous companions is not
limited to help and support, rather the most important thing is that it
helps him to remain steadfast and pious, for the shaytaan is further away
from two.
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Baari
(6/53):
Ibn Khuzaymah reported it under the heading;
“the prohibition on two travelling and that less than three are sinners,”
because what is meant by “devil” is a sinner. Al-Tabari said: This is a
rebuke aimed at disciplining and guiding because of the fear of loneliness
for one, but it is not haraam. The one who travels alone in the wilderness
and the one who stays alone in a house has no guarantee that he will not
feel lonely, especially if he had bad thoughts and is weak in faith.
In fact people differ with regard to that
and the prohibition concerning that is a measure of protection, but if there
is need for that, it should be fine. It was said, commenting on the words
“the (lone) rider is a devil” that his travelling alone is suggested to him
by the shaytaan, or he is likened to the shaytaan in his actions. And it was
said that it is disliked because if the person who is travelling alone dies
on the journey, there will be no one who can take care of him; similarly, if
two are travelling and both or one die, there will be no one to help, unlike
three, because in most cases that fear will not be present. End quote.
The apparent meaning of the hadeeth is that
the prohibition applies to the one who travels alone via empty and remote
routes. As for well-travelled routes, and those in which there is no risk of
being lost, and where there are likely to be helpers and companions, there
is no report that it is makrooh or prohibited. The same applies to
travelling nowadays on planes, ships and buses, because those who are in
them are all regarded as traveling companions, so the one who travels by
these means is not alone in the sense that is forbidden.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said in Fataawa
Noor ‘ala al-Darb (mutafarraqaat/al-adaab):
This points to the warning against
travelling alone, but that applies to journeys where the route is not
travelled by many. As for journeys where the route is travelled by many, and
it is as if one is in the middle of a village, such as the route from
al-Qaseem to Riyadh, or Riyadh to Dammam and other such routes where there
are many travellers, and the road to the Hijaz during the Hajj season, this
is not in fact regarded as being alone, because many people travel by these
routes. So a person may be alone in his car but he is not alone on the
journey, rather there are people around him, behind him and in front of him
at every moment. End quote.
Shaykh al-Albaani said in his commentary on
this hadeeth in al-Saheehah (62):
Perhaps the hadeeth refers to travelling in
the deserts or wilderness where the traveller rarely sees anyone. It does
not include travel nowadays on paved and well-travelled roads. And Allaah
knows best. End quote.
And Allaah knows best.
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