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English translation
3563. It was narrated from Ĥumaid bin Nāfi' that Zainab bint Abī Salamah told him these three Hādīths. Zainab said: "I entered
upon Umm Ḥabībah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, when her father Abū Sufyān bin Ḥarb died. Umm Ḥabībah called for some perfume and put some on a young girl, then she put some on her cheeks. Then she said: 'By Allāh, I do not have any need for perfume but I heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ say: It is not permissible for any woman who believes in Allāh and the Last Day to mourn for anyone who dies for more than three days, except for a husband, (for whom the mourning period is) four months and ten days.'
Zainab said: "Then I went into Zainab bint Jahsh when her brother died, and she called for some perfume and put some on. Then she said: 'By Allāh, I do not have any need for perfume but I heard the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ say on the Minbar: It is not permissible for any woman who believes in Allāh and the Last Day to mourn for anyone who dies for more than three days, except for a husband, (for whom the mourning period is) four months and ten days.'"
Zainab said: "I heard Umm Salamah say: 'A woman came to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and said: O Messenger of Allāh, my daughter's husband has died and she has a problem in her eye; can I put kohl on her? The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: No. Then he said: "It is four months and ten days. During the Jāhiliyyah one of you would throw a piece of dung at the
end of the year.' Humaid said: "I said to Zainab: 'What is this throwing a piece of dung at the end of the year?' She said: 'If a woman's husband died, she would enter a small room (Hifsh) and wear her worst clothes, and she would not put on perfume or anything until a year. Then an animal would be brought, a donkey or sheep or bird, and she would end her Iddah with it (clean herself with it), and usually any animal used for that purpose would die. Then she would come out and would be given a piece of dung which she would throw, then she would go back to whatever she wanted of perfume, etc.'"
In the narration of Muhammad (bin Salamah) Mâlik said: Hifsh means hut. (Ṣaḥīḥ)
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Footnotes
1
[1] Al-Baqarah 2:240.
Commentary
1. 'I do not have any need for perfume because my husband has long been dead.' Besides, applying perfume after three days' mourning is not essential either. In order to end suspicion of mourning, it is, however, recommended to apply perfume, etc. (For further details, see Hadīth 3531-32)
