dyes, powders, and pastes with which women customarily brighten their faces. She must remain in the house and refrain from all adornment until her waiting-period is completed—either by the passage of its appointed term or by delivery if she is pregnant.

4 – She may take a small piece of perfume and place it on the area where the menstrual blood exits once the bleeding has stopped and she has attained ritual purity, in order to remove the unpleasant odor that builds up during that time.

5 – The ḥadith highlights the husband’s great right over his wife, for the Law has prohibited her from these otherwise lawful things for the whole of that period in deference to his right, protection of his bed, and as an open display of sorrow and grief for him.

6 – A woman in mourning is not forbidden to clean her body or clothing; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) allowed Umm Salamah, while she was in mourning, to wash with lote leaves. What is forbidden is adornment, not cleanliness.

7 – Nor is she barred from speaking to unrelated men when there is a need, for the Lawgiver did not prohibit this; and whatever He did not forbid remains, by default, permissible.

8 – The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade kohl to the mourner only because it is an adornment for the eyes, not because it is a medical treatment. She is therefore permitted to treat any other part of her body when needed.

Benefits

First: Ibn al-Qayyim said, “Mourning (iḥdād) is among the excellences of this sacred law, a mark of its wisdom and of its perfect concern for human welfare. Mourning over the dead magnifies the calamity of death, which inevitably brings the bereaved distress, pain, and grief in keeping with natural disposition. The All-Wise, All-Aware therefore allowed her a small measure of it, but anything beyond that brings outweighing harm and so He forbade it.

“As for mourning over a husband, it accompanies the waiting period—either by the prescribed months or by delivery in the case of pregnancy—and it is one of the necessities and completions of that waiting period. A woman needs to adorn herself only for her husband,