Tag: Q n A, Bukhari

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “It is not lawful for a Muslim
woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for more than
three days, except for her husband, for whom she should mourn for four
months and ten days.”

We were forbidden to mourn for more than three days except for a husband.

I (Humaid) said to Zainab, “What does ‘throwing a globe of dung when one
year had elapsed’ mean?” Zainab said, “When a lady was bereaved of her husband, she would live in a
wretched small room and put on the worst clothes she had and would not touch any scent till one year
had elapsed. Then she would bring an animal, e.g. a donkey, a sheep or a bird and rub her body
against it. The animal against which she would rub her body would scarcely survive. Only then she
would come out of her room, whereupon she would be given a globe of dung which she would throw
away and then she would use the scent she liked or the like.”

I want to Zainab bint Jahsh when her brother died. She
asked for perfume and used some of it and said, “By Allah, I am not in need of perfume, but I have
heard Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) saying on the pulpit, ‘It is not lawful for a lady who believes in Allah and the
last day to mourn for more than three days except for her husband for whom she should mourn for
four months and ten days.’”

“I heard my mother, Um Salama saying that a woman came to Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)
and said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! The husband of my daughter has died and she is suffering from an eye
disease, can she apply kohl to her eye?” Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) replied, “No,” twice or thrice. (Every time she
repeated her question) he said, “No.” Then Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) added, “It is just a matter of four months
and ten days. In the Pre-Islamic Period of ignorance a widow among you should throw a globe of
dung when one year has elapsed.”

Ibn `Umar bin Al-Khattab divorced his wife during her menses. Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) ordered him to take
her back till she became clean, and when she got another period while she was with him, she should
wait till she became clean again and only then, if he wanted to divorce her, he could do so before
having sexual relations with her. And that is the period Allah has fixed for divorcing women.
Whenever `Abdullah (bin `Umar) was asked about that, he would say to the questioner, “If you
divorced her thrice, she is no longer lawful for you unless she marries another man (and the other man
divorces her in his turn).’ Ibn `Umar further said, ‘Would that you (people) only give one or two
divorces, because the Prophet (ﷺ) has ordered me so.”

Ibn `Umar divorced his wife while she was having her menses. `Umar asked the Prophet (ﷺ) who said,
“Order him (your son) to take her back, and then divorced her before her period of the ‘Iddah has
elapsed.” I asked Ibn `Umar, “Will that divorce (during the menses) be counted?” He replied, “If
somebody behaves foolishly (will his foolishness be an excuse for his misbehavior)?”

Zainab bint Abu Salama told me these three narrations: Zainab said: I went to Um Habiba, the wife of
the Prophet (ﷺ) when her father, Abu- Sufyan bin Herb had died. Um ,Habiba asked for a perfume which
contained yellow scent (Khaluq) or some other scent, and she first perfumed one of the girls with it
and then rubbed her cheeks with it and said, “By Allah, I am not in need of perfume, but I have heard
Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) saying, ‘It is not lawful for a lady who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for
a dead person for more than three days unless he is her husband for whom she should mourn for four
months and ten days.’”

When Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) decided to leave Mecca after the Hajj, he saw Safiyya, sad and standing at the
entrance of her tent. He said to her, “Aqr (or) Halq! You will detain us. Did you perform Tawaf-al-
Ifada on the day of Nahr? She said, “Yes.” He said, “Then you can depart.”

Ma’qil gave his sister in marriage and later her husband divorced her once.