Question: The general understanding is that it is prohibited in the Shariah for a female to travel without a Mahram under all circumstances and including for religious purposes such as hajj.

Are there any exceptions to this rule? If a woman wishes to travel to another city for a religious conference/seminar without the company of a mahram male, would that be permissible? If she wishes to travel alone (or with a sister) to a Muslim country to undertake Islamic studies, would that be permissible? If she wishes to travel to visit her parents in the home country, but her husband or another Mahram cannot join, would she be able to travel independently?

Is the rule to be applied differently in this age when most travelling, in flights etc., is done in collective groups?

Question: I have come across Muslims who try and justify that we are permitted to eat the meat of the Jews/Christians, as is, e.g. McDonalds, supermarkets etc on the basis of the opinion given by Yusuf Al- Qaradawi:

”Since Allah did not prohibit it, the food of the Jews and the Christians is permitted to you on the basis of the original permissibility of things, and likewise you can share your food with them. Accordingly, you can eat the flesh of the animals they have slaughtered or hunted, and they can eat what you have slaughtered or hunted.”
(The Lawful and The Prohibited in Islam by Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, page 59).

”The application of the phrase, [part of the verse of the Quran, 5:5] ‘the food of those who were given the Scripture,’ is general and includes their meats, produce, and other foods. All of these are halal for us excepting what is haram in itself, e.g., the flesh of a dead animal, pork, and flowing blood, as these are haram regardless of whether they are obtained from a Christian, a Jew or a Muslim. “
(The Lawful and The Prohibited in Islam by Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, page 60)