Peace and greetings to our esteemed teacher and the people of Mishkat,
⁉ In light of the following hadiths, how should travelling alone be understood?
1. The hadiths do not specify what kind of journey is meant.
2. Nor do they say that travelling in a group is better than travelling alone. Rather, travelling alone or in pairs is likened to Satan and to those who have strayed.
How can this be explained in light of the above?
(1): Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā, from Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad, from Ibn Sinān,
《 عن إسماعیل بن جابر قال: کنت عند أبی عبد الله علیه السلام بمکه إذ جاءه رسول من المدینه فقال له من صحبت قال ما صحبت أحدا فقال له أبو عبد الله علیه السلام أما لو کنت تقدمت إلیک لأحسنت أدبک ثم قال واحد شیطان و اثنان شیطانان و ثلاث صحب و أربعه رفقاء.
Ismāʿīl ibn Jābir said: I was with Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) in Mecca when a messenger arrived from Medina. The Imam asked him, “Who did you travel with?” He replied, “I travelled with no one.” Imam al-Ṣādiq (peace be upon him) said to him, “Had I spoken to you about this beforehand, I would have taught you better manners.” Then he said, “One person [on a journey] is a devil; two are two devils; three are companions, and four are fellow travellers.” 》
((Al-Kāfī, vol. 8, p. 302))
(2): A group of our companions, from Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad ibn Khālid, from his father, from someone he mentioned, from Abū al-Ḥasan Mūsā (peace be upon him), from his father, from his grandfather (peace be upon them), in the advice of the Messenger of God (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) to ʿAlī (peace be upon him):
《 لا تخرج فی سفر وحدک فإن الشیطان مع الواحد و هو من الاثنین أبعد یا علی إن الرجل إذا سافر وحده فهو غاو و الاثنان غاویان و الثلاثه نفر قال و روى بعضهم سفر.
Do not set out on a journey alone, for Satan is with the person who travels alone, and is farther from two people. O ʿAlī, when a person travels alone, he is one who has strayed; if there are two, they are two who have strayed; and when there are three, they are a travelling party. Some narrators report the wording “a journey” instead. [That is, they count as travellers.] 》
((Al-Kāfī, vol. 8, p. 303))
(3): 《 و عنه علیه السلام قال: قال النبی صلى الله علیه و آله لعلی علیه السلام یا علی لا تخرج فی سفرک وحدک فإن الشیطان مع الواحد و من الاثنین أبعد.
It is also narrated from him (Imam al-Ṣādiq, peace be upon him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said to ʿAlī (peace be upon him): “O ʿAlī, do not set out on your journey alone, for Satan accompanies one person and is farther from two.” 》
((Makārim al-akhlāq, vol. 1, p. 259))
(4): Ḥammād ibn ʿAmr and Anas ibn Muḥammad both narrated from his father, from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, from his father, from his grandfather, from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (peace be upon him), from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), who said to him:
《 ... یا علی لعن الله ثلاثه آکل زاده وحده و راکب الفلاه وحده و النائم فی بیت وحده ... .
“… O ʿAlī, God has cursed three people: one who eats his provisions alone, one who crosses the wilderness alone, and one who sleeps alone in a house …”
“… O ʿAlī, God has cursed three people: one who eats his provisions alone, one who travels alone, and one who sleeps alone …” 》
((Man lā yaḥḍuruhu al-faqīh, vol. 4, p. 352))