so when he dies and she has not yet come under the authority of another man, full consideration of the first husband’s right requires that she be barred from the adornments women normally display for their husbands. This also blocks the means to her desiring men—or men desiring her—through such beautification.

Second: Shaykh Taqī al-Dīn said, “The woman in mourning must stay in her home. She should not go out during the day except for a need, nor at night except for a necessity.

“She remains entitled to everything that is lawful for her outside the waiting period—for example, speaking to the men she needs to address, provided she is properly covered. This was the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the practice of the Companions’ wives when their husbands died. If she does go out without need, spends the night elsewhere without need, or abandons mourning altogether, she should seek Allah’s forgiveness and repent. She is not required to restart the waiting period, but if any of it remains, she must complete it in her own home.

“She may also gather with anyone it is permissible for her to meet outside the ʿiddah.”

Third: Shaykh ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad said, “From the scholars’ statements it appears that any speech barred to the mourner before her mourning is even more strictly barred during it, whereas whatever was permissible for her beforehand remains permissible now as well.”

Fourth: The husband who lived faithfully with his wife and was separated from her only by death has a greater right over her than anyone else. Now that he can no longer protect his bed or safeguard the lineage of his children, Allah’s care for his right—by safeguarding his wife for the duration of her waiting period—is all the more emphatic.

Fifth: The scholars unanimously agree that a woman must mourn for her husband, though they differ on the details and some subsidiary rulings. The majority hold that the requirement is the same whether or not the marriage was consummated, for the young and the old, the virgin and the previously married, the freewoman and the slave, and the Muslim and the scripturalist; this is the view of the majority. According to Abū Ḥanīfah, however, the obligation does not apply to a scripturalist woman, a minor, or a slave girl.