Does Islam allow a Muslim woman to travel alone abroad for seeking knowledge, or does Islam deprive women from higher education?
A63. Islam encourages both men and women to seek useful knowledge that brings about all that is good in both lives and prevents all that is evil. This includes higher as well as lower education. As for a woman’s travel abroad for seeking knowledge without the company of a husband, a close relative who would protect her, this is not allowed in Islam based on what Al Bukhari and Muslim reported the Messenger of God p.b.u.h. who said: It is not allowed for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to travel the duration of one day and one night without a close relative. This is so because woman is an attraction whose single travel may cause evil for herself and for others.
