Islamic Fiqh > Marriage and family > Iddah (the waiting period) > Who must observe ihdad and who is exempt from it
Contents
Updated on 25 September 2026 at 3:23 PM
This part belongs to the full section: All sections of this part.
Ihdad is the mourning a woman observes after a death: she abstains from perfume, adornment and everything that draws attention. The following sheets set out the fiqh rulings on ihdad: who must observe it and who is exempt from it, the wisdom behind its prescription, what the mourning woman must avoid, and related acts such as plucking the eyebrows (namas), hair extensions, tattooing (washm) and filing the teeth (washr). The positions of the four schools and the early scholars are cited with their textual proofs, report numbers and classical references.
Zaynab bint Abi Salama reported that Umm Habiba, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), told her: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say the following. She then narrates that she entered upon Zaynab bint Jahsh when her brother died; Zaynab called for perfume, applied it, and declared: I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say these words from the pulpit:
It is not permitted for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn (ihdad) over a dead person for more than three nights, except for a husband: four months and ten days.Reported by Bukhari (1222) and Muslim (1486)
Who must observe ihdad and who is exempt from it: ihdad is only obligatory upon the woman in waiting (mu'tadda). The women in waiting fall into three categories: one upon whom ihdad is obligatory by consensus, one upon whom ihdad is not obligatory by consensus, and one upon whom the obligation of ihdad is a matter of disagreement.
Firstly: the woman in waiting upon whom ihdad is obligatory by consensus, namely the woman whose husband has died. The people of knowledge are unanimously agreed that the woman whose husband dies from a valid marriage must observe ihdad, whether he dies before or after consummation. The proof is the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) quoted above (reported by Bukhari 1222 and Muslim 1486).
Zaynab bint Abi Salama reported the following three narrations. She said: I entered upon Umm Habiba, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), when her father Abu Sufyan ibn Harb died; Umm Habiba called for a yellow khaluq perfume or the like, applied it to a slave girl, touched her cheeks with it, then declared: By Allah, I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: It is not permitted for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn over a dead person for more than three nights, except for a husband: four months and ten days. She then said: I entered upon Zaynab bint Jahsh when her brother died; she called for perfume, applied it, and declared: I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say from the pulpit: It is not permitted for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn over a dead person for more than three nights, except for a husband: four months and ten days.
I heard Umm Salama report that a woman came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, my daughter's husband has died and she is suffering from an eye ailment: may she apply kohl? The Messenger of Allah said: No, two or three times, then he said: It is only four months and ten days, and in the pre-Islamic era one of you would throw the ba'ra (a piece of dung) over her head at the end of a year.Reported by Bukhari (5024) and Muslim (1487, 1488, 1489)
Humayd (the transmitter) asked Zaynab what this throwing of the ba'ra at the end of the year was. She replied: when a woman's husband died, she entered a wretched dwelling, wore her worst clothes and touched no perfume until a year had passed; then a mount was brought to her, a donkey, a sheep or a bird, and she broke her mourning state with it, and she rarely died without it having first killed it. Then she would come out, be given dung (ba'ra), throw it, and then return to her perfume and whatever she wished. Malik was asked: with what did she break this state? He replied: she rubbed her skin with it.
Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: this report contains the proof of the obligation of ihdad upon the woman in waiting because of the death of her husband, and this is a matter of consensus in its general principle (Sharh Sahih Muslim, 10/112).
Imam Abu Bakr al-Jassas (may Allah have mercy on him) said: as for the ihdad of the woman whose husband has died, it was reported from a group of Companions that she must abstain from adornment and perfume: among them Aisha, Umm Salama, Ibn Omar and others; among the Successors, Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab and Sulayman ibn Yasar, and it is likewise narrated from the jurists of Medina. This is the position of our companions and of all the jurists of the major cities, with no disagreement among them (Ahkam al-Qur'an, 2/125).
Imam al-Mawardi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: for the woman whose husband has died, ihdad is obligatory, as declared by all the jurists, except for what is narrated from al-Hasan al-Basri and al-Sha'bi, who held that ihdad is not obligatory for her (al-Hawi al-Kabir, 11/273). Imam Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) further said: ihdad is obligatory by the Sunna upon which there is agreement; al-Hasan alone diverged from it, and he is thereby outweighed (al-Istidhkar, 6/231).
The jurists differed concerning the woman irrevocably divorced (ba'in): is ihdad obligatory for her or not? The majority of the jurists, namely the Malikis, the Shafi'is within the madhhab and the Hanbalis within the madhhab, held that ihdad is not obligatory for her: ihdad is only obligatory for the woman whose husband has died, and there is no ihdad for a divorced woman, by the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
It is not permitted for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn over a dead person for more than three nights, except for a husband: four months and ten days.Reported by Bukhari (1222) and Muslim (1486)
He thereby announced that ihdad concerns the widow, whereas the one who divorces is alive: there is therefore no mourning for his wife.
It is also because the mourning (hidad) established in the texts was only prescribed for the husband's right, in regret for what she has lost of his good companionship and the continuity of the marital bond until the moment of death. This meaning does not exist in divorce: the husband plunged her into loneliness through separation and severed the bond by his own choice, without dying from her; she therefore owes no grief.
And because she is in a waiting period for a cause other than death, ihdad is not obligatory for her, as with the revocably divorced woman (raj'iyya) and the woman touched by a doubtful intercourse (mawtu'a bi-shubha). And because ihdad in the waiting period of death serves to display regret for the separation from the husband and his death; as for divorce, he left her of his own choice and dissolved her marriage, so there is no meaning in imposing grief upon her for him. And because if the woman whose husband died were to become pregnant, the child would be attributed to him and no one could deny it: ihdad was therefore prescribed as a precaution so that no one who is not of him be attributed to the deceased. This is not the case with the divorced woman: her husband is alive, he takes the precaution himself and denies the child if it is not from him.
The Hanbalis said that this mourning is permitted but not recommended, while the Shafi'is declared it recommended (al-Mudawwana al-Kubra, 5/430; al-Istidhkar, 6/232-233; al-Ishraf 'ala nakt masail al-khilaf, 4/36-37; Tafsir al-Qurtubi, 3/182; Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil, 4/147; al-Sharh al-Kabir with Hashiyat al-Dasuqi, 3/428; al-Hawi al-Kabir, 11/275; al-Bayan, 11/78; Sharh Sahih Muslim, 10/112; al-Najm al-Wahhaj, 8/158; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 5/105; Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 10/55; Nihayat al-Muhtaj, 7/173; al-Mughni, 8/131; Kashshaf al-Qina', 5/501-502; Manar al-Sabil, 3/168).
The Hanafis, the Shafi'is in another opinion, and the Hanbalis according to one transmission held that ihdad is obligatory upon the woman irrevocably divorced by khul' or by a triple divorce; for mourning was only established for the woman whose husband has died, due to the loss of marriage, which is a blessing in religion and especially for her: it fulfills her desire, preserves her from the unlawful and protects her person from ruin through the destitution of maintenance (nafaqa). All of this was severed by death, and ihdad was therefore imposed upon her to display the affliction and grief. This same meaning is found in the thrice-divorced woman and in the one divorced by khul': ihdad is therefore incumbent upon her to display regret for the loss of the blessing of marriage, which is a means of her protection and secure livelihood; and irrevocable divorce severs the marriage more lastingly than death (Bada'i' al-Sana'i', 3/209; al-Hidaya, 2/31; al-Mukhtar, 3/216-217; al-Jawhara al-Nayyira, 5/27-28; al-Mughni, 8/131-132).
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: if it is asked: must the woman in waiting due to divorce, doubtful intercourse, fornication, or waiting for confirmation of the absence of pregnancy (istibra') observe ihdad? We answer: this is the fifth ruling, and the Sunna established that none of them must observe ihdad; for the Sunna affirmed and negated, reserving obligatory ihdad for wives and permitting mourning over the dead specifically for the others; everything beyond these two cases falls under the ruling of prohibition upon the dead. From where do you get the inclusion of the ihdad of the irrevocably divorced woman? Sa'id ibn al-Musayyab, Abu Ubayd, Abu Thawr, Abu Hanifa and his companions, and Imam Ahmad in one of the two transmissions from him which he chose and which al-Kharqi retained, said: the irrevocably divorced woman must observe ihdad; yet this is pure analogy (qiyas): she is in waiting from a severed marriage, so ihdad is incumbent upon her as upon the widow, the two sharing the waiting period while differing in its cause; and because the waiting period forbids marriage, it consequently forbids its motives. They said: there is no doubt that ihdad has an intelligible meaning: displaying adornment, perfume and jewelry draws the woman toward men and men toward her, so it cannot be ruled out that she lie about the expiration of her waiting period in haste to pursue them; these motives were therefore forbidden to her and the path to them blocked. This while lying about the waiting period of death is almost impossible, given the manifest death of the husband and the fact that this waiting period is counted in fixed days, unlike the waiting period of divorce: that one is counted by her peers (aqra') and is known only through her; the precaution was therefore more fitting for her.
They were answered: Allah rebuked the one who forbids His adornment which He brought forth for His servants and the good things of His provision, and this indicates that it is not permitted to forbid any adornment other than what Allah and His Messenger forbade. Allah indeed forbade, through the tongue of His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), the adornment of ihdad for the woman whose husband has died, for the duration of the waiting period, and His Messenger permitted ihdad by exempting everyone other than the husband. It is therefore not permitted to forbid other than what He forbade: everything remains on the principle of permissibility. Moreover, ihdad is neither a necessary consequence of the waiting period nor one of its corollaries: this is why it is not obligatory, by unanimous agreement, upon the woman touched by doubtful intercourse, the adulteress, the one in istibra', nor the revocably divorced woman. This analogy is therefore more fitting than likening her to the widow, given the vast distance separating the two waiting periods in duration, cause and ruling: attaching the waiting period of the divorced women to their peers is more fitting than attaching it to the waiting period of death. And the purpose of ihdad upon the deceased husband is not merely what you mentioned of the haste of some women: the waiting period was not prescribed there merely for knowledge of the purity of the womb, since it is owed even before consummation. Rather it proceeds from the veneration of this contract, the manifestation of its greatness, its nobility and its standing with Allah: the waiting period was established as a sanctuary for it, and ihdad as the completion of this purpose, its reinforcement and the increase of regard for it, to the point that the wife was made more obliged to perform it for her husband than her father, her son, her brother and all her relatives. This is part of the veneration of this contract, its honoring, and the emphasis on distinguishing it from fornication in all of its rulings: hence its proclamation, the calling of witnesses at its conclusion and the beating of the duff (tambourine) were prescribed at its beginning, to establish the contrast with fornication; and at its end, the waiting period and ihdad were prescribed, which has not been prescribed for any other act (Zad al-Ma'ad, 700-701).
Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: the wisdom of making ihdad obligatory in the waiting period of death and not in divorce is that adornment and perfume invite to marriage and lead to it; she is therefore forbidden it so that her abstention deters from marriage, because the deceased husband cannot ward off suitors from his widow, nor does the future husband care about him nor fear him, unlike the living divorcer whose existence dispenses from any deterrent. For this same cause, the waiting period is obligatory upon every woman whose husband has died, even if the marriage was not consummated, unlike divorce. Thus the deceased is honored by the obligation of the waiting period, which was fixed at four months and ten days: within the four months, the spirit is breathed into the child if there is one, the ten are a precaution, and during this period the child moves in the womb. This was not entrusted to the honesty of women by having it counted by her peers as with divorce, due to the precaution taken for the deceased (Sharh Sahih Muslim, 10/113).
Fourthly: ihdad for someone other than the husband: the generality of the jurists of the four schools and others explicitly stated that it is permitted to mourn for someone other than the husband among the relatives, such as the father, the mother, the brothers and the children, for three days, and that this is not obligatory. The proof is what the two shaykhs (Bukhari and Muslim) reported from Humayd ibn Nafi' from Zaynab bint Abi Salama, who narrated: I entered upon Umm Habiba, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah say the following; then she entered upon Zaynab bint Jahsh when her brother died, who called for perfume, applied it and said: I have no need of perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah on the pulpit:
It is not permitted for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn over a dead person for more than three nights, except for a husband: four months and ten days.Reported by Bukhari (1222) and Muslim (1486)
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) thus permitted the woman to mourn for a relative other than her husband, among her mahrams, for three days, because of the overwhelming burning of grief and the surge of piercing pain, without obliging her to it. Ibn Battal (may Allah have mercy on him) said: and this is the madhhab of the jurists; he forbade her, of ihdad, anything beyond that.
What proves that the three-day mourning for someone other than the husband is not obligatory is the consensus of the scholars: if the father or son of a married woman dies, and her husband asks her for intercourse during the three days in which mourning is permitted for her, it must be granted to him; and the revealed Text explicitly established that the mourning of married women, four months and ten days, is obligatory (Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, 3/268-269).
Imam Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: this report was used as evidence for the permissibility of ihdad for someone other than the husband, a relative or the like, for three nights or less, and its prohibition beyond that. This measure was permitted out of consideration for the pleasure of the soul, its soothing and the predominance of human nature; this is why Umm Habiba and Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with both of them) took perfume in order to leave the state of mourning, each declaring that she had used no perfume out of any need: a sign that the effects of grief remained in them, but that nothing was possible for them except obedience to the command (Fath al-Bari, 9/487).
Moreover, the people of knowledge are unanimously agreed that there is no ihdad for the man when his wife dies.
The wisdom behind the prescription of ihdad is to repel strangers from gazing at her: mourning was therefore made obligatory for the widow, in the absence of anyone defending the lineage, and recommended for the irrevocably divorced woman, given his presence; it was not prescribed for the revocably divorced woman, due to the usual absence of any gaze directed at her, while she remains a wife in many rulings (Hawashi al-Sharwani 'ala Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 10/53).
Ihdad was prescribed because it prevents the man from gazing at her covetously: if she adorns herself, it leads to the gaze, the gaze leads to a contract during the waiting period, the contract leads to intercourse, and intercourse leads to the mixing of lineages, which is unlawful; and whatever leads to the unlawful is unlawful (Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil, 4/147).
The wisdom of obliging the wife to mourn her husband longer than her father, her mother or her son: Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: forbidding the woman to mourn her mother and father beyond three days, while obliging her to mourn her husband, who is a stranger to her, for four months and ten days, is among the perfection of the merits of this Sharia, its wisdom and its care in the most complete ways. Mourning over the deceased proceeds from the veneration of the affliction of death, in which the people of the pre-Islamic era exaggerated to the utmost: the woman would remain for a year in the narrowest and most desolate house, touching no perfume or ointment, not washing herself, and other such practices which constitute a denial addressed to Allah and His decrees. Allah therefore abolished, by His wisdom, the pre-Islamic custom and replaced it for us with patience and praise.
And since the affliction of death cannot but stir in the afflicted what nature demands of agitation, pain and grief, the Wise, the Aware, permitted her a little of that: three days, in which she finds a kind of relief and vents a portion of her grief; whatever exceeds that is a harmful corruption, so he forbade it. The meaning is that He permitted them mourning over their dead for three days; as for mourning over the husband, it follows the waiting period counted in months; and as for the pregnant woman, once her term arrives, the obligation of mourning falls away: it is mentioned that it continues until delivery, for it is among the corollaries of the waiting period, hence it was conditioned by its duration: it is a ruling among the rulings of the waiting period and an obligation among its obligations; it exists with it and ceases with it.
He further said: mourning is among the requirements and completions of the waiting period, for the woman needs to adorn herself, beautify and perfume herself only to be loved by her husband, to win back his soul and beautify their life together. When the husband dies and she completes her waiting period without having reached another husband, the perfection of the right of the first and the reinforcement of the prevention of the second, before she reaches the term fixed by the Book, require that she be prevented from what women do for their husbands, in addition to what this contains of blocking the path to her coveting men and their coveting her, through adornment, henna dyeing and perfuming (I'lam al-Muwaqqi'in, 2/165-166).
The people of knowledge are unanimously agreed that the Muslim wife who has reached puberty and possesses sound mind must observe ihdad if her husband dies. The scholars nevertheless differed concerning the Woman of the Book (kitabiyya) married to a Muslim and concerning the girl who has not reached puberty: is ihdad obligatory for them or not?
Firstly: ihdad for the Woman of the Book married to a Muslim: the jurists differed concerning her when she is married to a Muslim who dies: is ihdad obligatory for her or not? The Hanafis, as well as Imam Malik in one transmission chosen by Ibn Nafi' and Ashhab, held that ihdad is not obligatory for her: mourning is a bodily act of worship which is therefore not owed by the disbeliever, like the other bodily acts of worship such as fasting and prayer. The waiting period ('idda) is different, for it is merely the passage of time; and this varies neither with Islam nor disbelief, nor with being young or old.
When the two shaykhs reported from Humayd ibn Nafi' from Zaynab bint Abi Salama that Umm Habiba said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) say: It is not permitted for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn over a dead person for more than three nights, except for a husband: four months and ten days (reported by Bukhari 1222 and Muslim 1486), the Prophet made ihdad among the rulings of the one who believes in Allah and the Last Day: the disbelieving woman therefore does not enter into it; and because she is not charged with the rulings of the branches (Bada'i' al-Sana'i', 3/209; al-Mukhtar, 3/216; al-Jawhara al-Nayyira, 5/29; al-Istidhkar, 6/231).
The Malikis within the madhhab, the Shafi'is and the Hanbalis, on the contrary, hold that ihdad is obligatory upon the wife even if she is a Woman of the Book: the rights of the protected woman (dhimmiyya) in marriage are like those of the Muslim woman with regard to what is upon her, by the generality of the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
The woman must not mourn over a dead person for more than three nights, except for a husband: four months and ten days. She must not wear a dyed garment other than a garment of 'asb (a Yemenite dye), must not apply kohl, and must not touch perfume, unless she purifies herself with a piece of costus or azfar.Reported by Muslim (938)
In another wording: "The one whose husband has died must not wear the saffron-dyed garment nor the garment dyed with marl, nor jewelry, must not dye her hands and must not apply kohl": an authentic hadith reported by Abu Dawud (2304), al-Nasa'i (3535), Ahmad (26623) and Ibn Hibban in his Sahih (4306). This wording has a general scope covering the Muslim woman and the disbelieving woman; and because she is in a waiting period from a death, mourning is incumbent upon her as upon the Muslim woman.
As for the first report, its proof by address indicates that there is no mourning for the disbeliever; yet the proponents of the other view do not argue by the proof of address. And because the report contains an indication that ihdad is owed by the protected woman: ihdad was only established upon the woman in waiting as an intensification upon her; if the intensification is owed by the believing woman in her waiting period, then all the more reason it would be owed by the disbelieving woman. And when a proof and an indication come together, the indication is given precedence because it is stronger (al-Bayan, 11/81).
Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: His statement (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "It is not permitted for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn over a dead person" has no probative value here, for the cause of the ruling is the sanctity of the Muslim for whom the waiting period is observed at his death. The hadith mentioned the one who believes in Allah and the Last Day because the address was directed at those whose condition that is: the believing women entered into it by mention, and the non-believing women by the meaning we mentioned. It is like saying: "this is the road of the Muslims", into whose meaning the protected people (dhimma) enter; and like His statement: "Let none of you sell over his brother's sale", which means the Muslim: the protected subject enters into it by meaning. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) indeed made pre-emption (shuf'a) obligatory for the Muslim, and it is obligatory for the protected people as for the Muslim, among matters too lengthy to enumerate. There is no disagreement: the protected wife, regarding maintenance, the waiting period and all the rulings of wives, is like the Muslim woman; and ihdad is the same (al-Tamhid, 17/316; al-Istidhkar, 6/231; Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil, 4/147; al-Sharh al-Kabir with Hashiyat al-Dasuqi, 3/428; al-Bayan, 11/80-81; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 5/105; al-Mughni, 8/124; Kashshaf al-Qina', 5/502).
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: in ihdad, all wives are alike: the Muslim and the disbeliever, the free woman and the slave, the young and the old. This is the opinion of the majority: Ahmad, al-Shafi'i and Malik; except that Ashhab and Ibn Nafi' said: no mourning for the protected woman, and Ashhab narrated it from Malik, and it is also the view of Abu Hanifa, according to whom there is no mourning for the young girl.
The proponents of this view argued that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) made ihdad among the rulings of the one who believes in Allah and the Last Day: the disbelieving woman therefore does not enter into it; and because she is not charged with the rulings of the branches. They said: his shift from the general absolute wording to the specific restricted by faith implies that this is among the rulings of faith, its consequences and its obligations: it is as if he said: whoever commits to faith, this is among its laws and its obligations.
The verification is that negating the permissibility of the act for the believers implies neither negating its ruling with regard to the disbelievers nor affirming it for them: it only implies that whoever commits to faith and its laws, it is not permitted to him; and it is obligatory in every case to commit to faith and its laws, but the Lawgiver does not impose the laws of faith upon him until after he enters into it. It is as if it were said: "It is not permitted for a believer to abandon prayer, pilgrimage and almsgiving": this does not indicate that it would be permitted for the disbeliever. Likewise His statement regarding the wearing of silk: "It is not befitting the righteous": this does not indicate that it would be befitting for others; likewise His statement: "It is not befitting a believer to be a slanderer".
The secret of the matter is that the laws of the lawful, the unlawful and the obligatory were only prescribed for the one who commits to the foundation of faith; and the one who does not commit to it is left between him and his religion: he is left between him and the laws of the religion he has embraced, as he is left between him and its foundation, so long as he does not refer the dispute to us.
The mourning woman avoids, according to the jurists in general, the adornment that invites men to women: jewelry, kohl and everything that invites intercourse with her, encourages gazing at her and beautifies her; what contains no adornment, she is not obliged to avoid. In general, the views of the jurists on what the mourning woman avoids are close: it is everything that stirs men toward them in general.
This comprises four things. The first: perfume. There is no disagreement among the jurists that it is unlawful for the mourning woman to touch perfume, by the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): "The woman must not mourn over a dead person for more than three nights... must not apply kohl and must not touch perfume, unless she purifies herself with a piece of costus or azfar" (reported by Muslim, 938).
Zaynab bint Abi Salama reported the three narrations already cited: that of Umm Habiba at the death of her father Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, that of Zaynab bint Jahsh at the death of her brother, and the report of Umm Salama concerning the woman whose daughter suffered from an eye ailment (reported by Bukhari 5024 and Muslim 1487, 1488, 1489). This is because perfume stirs desire and invites to intercourse.
Imam Ibn al-Mundhir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: all the scholars whose reports we retain are unanimously agreed, except for what we narrated from al-Hasan, that the mourning woman is forbidden perfume and adornment (al-Ishraf, 5/371; al-Ijma', 88, no. 460). Ibn Qudama (may Allah have mercy on him) said: there is no disagreement about its prohibition, namely perfume, among those who make ihdad obligatory (al-Mughni, 8/125).
She is nevertheless permitted to place perfume in her private parts when she washes from menstruation, by the statement of the Prophet: "unless she purifies herself with a piece of costus or azfar" (reported by Muslim, 938).
As for ointments (adhan): if they are perfumed, such as rose oil, violet oil and jasmine oil and the like, it is forbidden for her to apply them to her entire body, because of the perfume they contain. As for the non-perfumed ointment, such as olive oil, shiraj and ghee, there is no harm in applying it, for it is not a perfume. The Shafi'is said: it is permitted to apply it elsewhere than on the head, for it produces no adornment; it is not permitted to apply it on the head, for it softens and beautifies the hair.
She is permitted to wash her hair and body with sidr and marshmallow (khitmi), by the report of Umm Hakim bint Usayd from her mother:
Her husband having died while she suffered from her eyes and applied the kohl of jila', she sent her slave girl to ask Umm Salama about the kohl of jila'. Ahmad specified: the correct is the kohl of jila'. Umm Salama said: Do not apply it except for an unavoidable necessity that presses upon you; then apply it at night and wipe it off by day. She added: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) entered upon me at the death of Abu Salama while I had placed galena (sabr) on my eye. He said: What is this, Umm Salama? I said: It is only sabr, O Messenger of Allah, without perfume. He said: It grays the face: place it only at night and remove it by day; and comb your hair neither with perfume nor with henna, for it is a dye. She said: With what shall I comb my hair, O Messenger of Allah? He said: With sidr; wrap your head with it.Reported by Abu Dawud (2305) and al-Nasa'i (3537); a weak hadith
Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said that it reached him that Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), used to say: "The mourning woman ties her hair with sidr and oil." Abu Omar Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: I know of no disagreement over this, for sidr and oil are not perfume. Something was narrated from al-Shafi'i concerning it in a sense close to istihsan, because of its softening and relaxing of the hair (al-Istidhkar, 6/239-240).
Imam Ibn al-Humam (may Allah have mercy on him) said: they are agreed on forbidding the perfumed ointments and differed over the non-perfumed ones, such as olive oil, pure shiraj and ghee: we and al-Shafi'i forbid them except in case of necessity, because of the adornment they produce; the two Imams, Malik and Ahmad, as well as the Zahiris, permitted them (Sharh Fath al-Qadir, 4/340).
It is not permitted for her to wear a perfumed garment or one dyed with usfur (safflower) and saffron, for it gives off a pleasant smell and becomes like perfume. According to the Shafi'is, the rule for the perfume forbidden to her is: every perfume and ointment unlawful for the state of consecration (ihram) is unlawful for her here, and everything permitted to the muhrim is permitted here. All of this applies in a situation of choice; in case of necessity or need, it is permitted for her to use perfume according to the Hanafis and the Shafi'is (Bada'i' al-Sana'i', 3/208; al-Mukhtar, 3/217; al-Jawhara al-Nayyira, 5/28; al-Tamhid, 17/315; al-Taj wa-l-Iklil, 3/185; Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil, 4/148; al-Sharh al-Kabir with Hashiyat al-Dasuqi, 3/428; al-Muhadhdhab, 2/149-150; al-Bayan, 11/83-84; al-Najm al-Wahhaj, 8/161, 163; Mughni al-Muhtaj, 5/107-108; Tuhfat al-Muhtaj, 10/58; al-Mughni, 8/125; Kashshaf al-Qina', 5/502; Manar al-Sabil, 3/169).
The Malikis added that it is obligatory for her to give up perfuming: she must not touch it, nor work with it, nor trade in it, even if it is her only craft, if she touches it with her own hands; otherwise, there is no prohibition, for it invites to marriage and stirs desire, so she was prevented from it (al-Taj wa-l-Iklil, 3/185; Sharh Mukhtasar Khalil, 4/148; al-Sharh al-Kabir with Hashiyat al-Dasuqi, 3/428; Tahrir al-Mukhtasar, 3/341).
Likewise, every color with which the body is coated and by which it is beautified is forbidden to the woman in waiting during her mourning, for it calls men's desire toward her: it is only intended for making herself beautiful for them. If she applies it to what is hidden of her body and her garments cover it, it is not unlawful for her: the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) permitted Umm Salama to place the sabr at night and forbade her its use by day, because it escapes sight at night and is seen by day; likewise everything her garments conceal from sight. If she does it without need, it is disliked; in case of need, it is not (al-Hawi al-Kabir, 11/279; al-Bayan, 11/83; al-Mughni, 8/125).
Kohl of ithmid for the mourning woman: the jurists of the four schools agree that kohl of ithmid is forbidden to her without necessity. Zaynab said: I heard Umm Salama report that a woman came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah, my daughter's husband has died and she suffers from her eyes: may I apply kohl for her? The Messenger of Allah said: No, two or three times (reported by Bukhari 5024 and Muslim 1487, 1488, 1489). And the Prophet said: "The woman must not mourn over a dead person for more than three nights... must not apply kohl..." (reported by Muslim, 938); and in another wording: "The one whose husband has died must not wear the saffron-dyed garment nor the garment dyed with marl, nor jewelry, must not dye herself and must not apply kohl" (reported by Abu Dawud 2304, al-Nasa'i 3535, Ahmad 26623 and Ibn Hibban 4306).
Kohl is indeed among what most strongly produces adornment; and adornment invites toward it and stirs desire: it is therefore like perfume, indeed stronger than it.
If the mourning woman is compelled to kohl of ithmid, she may apply it at night and not by day, according to the jurists of the four schools, by the report of Umm Hakim bint Usayd cited above (reported by Abu Dawud 2305 and al-Nasa'i 3537; a weak hadith).
Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said: it reached me from Salim ibn Abdallah and Sulayman ibn Yasar that they said, regarding the woman whose husband has died: if she fears for her sight an ophthalmia or an ailment that afflicts her, she may apply kohl and treat herself with a medicine or a kohl, even if it contains perfume. Malik said: and when there is necessity, the religion of Allah is easy (al-Muwatta, 2/599). Al-Kasani (may Allah have mercy on him) said: she avoids perfume, the perfumed garment and that dyed with usfur and saffron; she avoids ointment and kohl, does not dye herself, does not comb her hair, does not wear jewelry and does not invite gazing; this in a situation of choice, but in case of necessity, such as an ailment of the eye, there is no harm in applying kohl (Bada'i' al-Sana'i', 3/208).
Ibn Qudama (may Allah have mercy on him) said: if the mourning woman is compelled to kohl of ithmid for treatment, she may apply it at night and wipe it off by day. 'Ata', al-Nakha'i, Malik and the people of opinion (ashab al-ra'y) permitted it in case of necessity, by what Umm Hakim bint Asad narrated from her mother (reported by Abu Dawud and al-Nasa'i). Kohl of ithmid was forbidden to her because it produces adornment; as for kohl of tutty (tutiya) and anzarut and the like, there is no harm in it, for it contains no adornment: rather it disfigures the eye and increases its watering. She is not prevented from placing the sabr on another part of her body than the face: she is only prevented from it on the face, because it yellows it and makes it resemble a dye; hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "it grays the face" (al-Mughni, 8/126).
The majority of the jurists of the four schools said: what is narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he forbade the mourning woman kohl absolutely, comes from a woman who complained to him of an eye ailment, and he did not permit her kohl, neither by night nor by day, neither out of necessity nor otherwise: he answered "No" two or three times, without saying "except under compulsion". They said: the meaning is that the Prophet forbade it to her because she had not reached the degree at which kohl is unavoidable; had she been under compulsion, fearing the loss of her sight, he would have permitted it to her, as he did for the one to whom he said: "Place it at night and wipe it off by day". And examination (nazar) bears witness to this interpretation: necessities transfer the forbidden to the state of the permitted in the principles (usul).
Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) said: examination bears witness to that, for the one compelled to a thing is not judged by the ruling of the idle one who adorns herself; and medicine and treatment have nothing to do with adornment: the mourning woman was forbidden adornment, not treatment. Umm Salama is the most knowledgeable of what she narrated, her report is authentic upon examination, and the people of fiqh are upon it; Malik, al-Shafi'i and most of the jurists said it. Malik mentioned in his "Muwatta" that it reached him from Salim ibn Abdallah and Sulayman ibn Yasar that they said of the woman whose husband has died that if she fears for her sight an ophthalmia or an ailment, she may apply kohl and treat herself with a kohl even if it is perfumed. Abu Omar said: because the aim is treatment, not perfuming; deeds are but by intentions. Al-Shafi'i said: the sabr yellows and becomes adornment without being perfume: it is the kohl of jila', and Umm Salama permitted the woman to use it at night where it is not seen, and to wipe it off by day where it is seen; likewise what resembles it (al-Tamhid, 17/318, 320).
Ibn Battal (may Allah have mercy on him) cites in this regard Umm Atiyya (may Allah be pleased with her): "We were forbidden to mourn over a dead person for more than three nights, except for a husband." The author said: Malik narrated that it reached him that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) entered upon Umm Salama while she was mourning Abu Salama and had placed sabr on her eye. He said: What is this, Umm Salama? She said: It is only sabr, O Messenger of Allah. He said: Place it at night and wipe it off by day. Yet this contradicts the report of this chapter: the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not permit Umm Salama's daughter, upon the death of her husband, kohl either by night or by day. Abu Abdallah ibn Abi Safra said: the reconciliation between the two reports is that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) only forbade perfume and adornment during the waiting period in order to cut off the means; for that is among the motives of marriage from which she was prevented until she left her waiting period, as a precaution for the deceased, since the regard that was held for him had ceased. But when the hardship of depriving them of it reaches people, it is lifted from them. The permission he (peace be upon him) granted for kohl at night indicates that his prohibition in the latter report is not of the order of prohibition, but of the order of disapproval: whoever wishes may take the strict course upon himself, as Safiyya bint Abi Ubayd did by giving up kohl until her eyes all but closed; and whoever wishes may take the concession: a group of the early generations permitted it. Malik mentioned in the "Muwatta" that it reached him from Salim ibn Abdallah and Sulayman ibn Yasar that they permitted the woman whose husband has died, if she fears for her sight an ailment, to apply kohl and treat herself with what contains perfume. Malik said: and when there is necessity, the religion of Allah is easy. He said in the "Small Mukhtasar": she must not apply kohl unless compelled to it, and with a kohl without perfume. Al-Shafi'i said: every kohl that contains adornment of the eye, such as ithmid and the like, contains no good; as for lead kohl (al-farisi) and the like, in case of necessity there is no harm in it, for it is not an adornment: rather it increases the eye in ugliness; and the one compelled to something of adornment may apply it at night and wipe it off by day, relying on the report narrated from Malik from Umm Salama. Al-Shafi'i said: the sabr yellows the eye and becomes adornment without being perfume: the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) permitted it at night so that it would not be seen, and likewise what resembles it.
Ibn al-Mundhir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: kohl was permitted in case of necessity according to 'Ata' and al-Nakha'i, and it is the view of Malik and the Kufans; they said: there is no harm in black kohl and the like if her eye is ailing (Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, 9/172-173; al-Mughni, 8/126).
Imam an-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: His statement: "may I apply kohl for her? He said: No", together with this hadith and the hadith of Umm Atiyya mentioned after it in His statement: "she must not apply kohl", contain the proof of the prohibition of kohl for the mourning woman, whether she needs it or not. It comes in the later report of the "Muwatta" and others, in the hadith of Umm Salama: "Place it at night and wipe it off by day"; and the way to reconcile the reports is that if she has no need of it, it is not permitted to her; and if she needs it, it is not permitted by day and is permitted at night, the best remaining to give it up; if she does it, she wipes it off by day. The hadith of permission thus shows that its use at night, for a need, is not unlawful; the hadith of prohibition is interpreted as referring to the absence of need; and the hadith of the woman whose eyes were ailing and whom he forbade is interpreted as a prohibition of disapproval, some interpreting it by the fact that the fear for her eye had not been verified. The scholars differed over the kohl of the mourning woman: Salim ibn Abdallah, Sulayman ibn Yasar and Malik in one transmission from him said: it is permitted if she fears for her eye, with a kohl containing no perfume; some permitted it in case of need even with perfume; and our madhhab is its permission at night in case of need, with what contains no perfume (Sharh Sahih Muslim, 10/114).