💌 Something that not many people are aware of yet is that since the male cousins of a Muslim woman are not her mahram, her cousins' sons are also not her mahram. Even if someone complains with "but they call me 'auntie', therefore they're my nephews!" or "wouldn't it be weird to marry your cousin's son?", what Allah the Almighty and His noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam say are much more important than people's opinions.
In Surah An-Noor, verse 31, where a Muslim woman's mahrams are mentioned, her cousins and cousins' sons are not included. This is evidence that a woman's male cousins and "nephews" through her cousins are marriageable, and they can't be counted as a mahram to accompany her on long journeys, travel, Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage.
🗒️ The following are your mahrams as a Muslimah:
Your father, your mother's father, your father's father, your grandfather's father, your brother, your brother's sons, your mother's brothers (your maternal uncles), your father's brothers (your paternal uncles), your husband's sons from his other wife, your husband's father or your father-in-law, your sister's sons, the sons of your nephews from your brother or sister, your half-brother (your father's sons from his other wife), your foster brother (who was breastfed by your mother at least five times) and your son-in-law. If you have a daughter and she marries your cousin's son, her husband becomes your legal mahram.
📋 What you can do with your male mahrams:
1) They can accompany you for shopping, traveling, and performing Hajj or Umrah.
2) They are allowed to see your hair, face and arms.
3) You can shake hands with them.
4) You can briefly hug them if they arrived from travel, if you haven't seen each other in a long time, or if they passed away.
5) They can be your guardian concerning witnessing and signing marriage contract, or accepting or declining marriage proposals from suitors.
🗒️ The following are not your mahrams:
Your male cousins whether they are your first-degree, second-degree or third-degree cousins, their sons and the sons of their sons, your husband's brothers whether they are his half-brothers, his stepbrothers, or his foster brothers, your sister's husband, the husbands of your nieces from your cousins, the male cousins of your mother and father, and any man who is not closely connected through family ties.
📋 What you must do around non-mahram males:
1) Maintain your hijaab, niqaab and modesty around them.
2) Avoid being too overly friendly and flirtatious towards them.
3) You can't consider them as a mahram, shopping buddy and travel companion.
4) Don't shake hands with them, poke their shoulders, or tap their backs to get their attention.
5) They are marriageable to you and your daughters if one of them is interested in marrying.
~•~
📖 Jabir Ibn Abdullah RadhiAllahu 'anhu narrated: Allah's noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "Whoever has faith/Imaan in Allah and the Last Day, let him not be alone with an unrelated woman (non-mahram female) without her guardian (mahram). Verily, the third of them is shaytan."
Source: Musnad Ahmed 14241
Grade: Sahih (Authentic) according to Al-Albani
📖 Abu Huraira RadhiAllahu 'anhu narrated: Allah's noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "It is not lawful for a woman who has faith/Imaan in Allah and the Last Day to travel for a day and a night without her guardian (mahram)."
Source: Sahih Al-Bukhari 1038
Sahih Muslim 1339
Grade: Muttafaqun Alayhi (Authenticity agreed upon) according to Al-Bukhari and Muslim
📖 Narrated `Uqba Ibn 'Amir RadhiAllahu 'anhu narrated: Allah's noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam said, "Beware of entering upon the ladies." A man from the Ansaar said, "O' Allah's Messenger! What about Al-Hamu (the male in-laws of the wife like the brothers of her husband or his nephews etc.)?" The Prophet SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam answered: "The in-laws of the wife are death itself."
Reference: Sahih Al-Bukhari 5232In-book reference: Book 67
Hadith 165USC-MSA web (English) reference: Vol. 7, Book 62, Hadith 159
https://www.abukhadeejah.com/mind-map-illustration-showing-the-mahrams-male-chaperones-of-a-woman-for-travel-and-sittings/
https://binbaz.org.sa/fatwas/15442/%D8%B5%D9%81%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D8%B6%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%85
