The Book of Mourning Seclusion (Iḥdād)

All Muslims concur that mourning seclusion is obligatory for free Muslim women during the waiting period that follows a husband’s death; the only dissenting voice is al-Ḥasan. They differ, however, with regard to other categories of wives, other kinds of waiting periods, and the specific matters from which the mourner must abstain.

Mālik holds that iḥdād applies to a Muslim woman, a woman from the People of the Book, a minor, and an adult alike. As for a slave-girl whose master dies—whether or not she is an umm walad—there is, in his view, no iḥdād upon her, and this is likewise the position of the jurists of the provincial centers. Ibn Nāfiʿ and Ashhab rejected Mālik’s well-known opinion concerning the kitābiyyah and transmitted from him the opposite view; al-Shāfiʿī likewise maintains that no iḥdād is required of a kitābiyyah. Abū Ḥanīfah says that neither a minor nor a kitābiyyah is obliged to observe mourning seclusion. A group of scholars further stated that a married slave-girl is not subject to iḥdād; this opinion too is attributed to Abū Ḥanīfah. Such, then, is their well-known disagreement over which kinds of wives are, and which are not, bound to observe iḥdād.

Regarding the type of waiting period, Mālik says that iḥdād is prescribed only in the waiting period occasioned by death. Abū Ḥanīfah and al-Thawrī rule that it is also obligatory during the waiting period that follows an irrevocable divorce, whereas al-Shāfiʿī deems it commendable for a divorced woman but does not make it compulsory.

The third section concerns what the mourner must forgo and what she may do. In general, the jurists agree that she must avoid all adornment that attracts men—such as jewelry and kohl, unless the kohl is devoid of ornament—and dyed garments, except for black, for Mālik found no objection to her wearing black. All of them allow kohl in cases of necessity: some stipulate that it contain no embellishment, others do not, and others permit it only if applied at night and not by day. In short, the jurists’ statements about what a mourning woman must eschew are much the same: whatever, as a rule, arouses men’s desire toward women.

The majority deemed iḥdād obligatory because it is firmly established in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Among the supporting texts is the ḥadīth of Umm Salamah, the Prophet’s wife—peace and blessings be upon him—who reported:

“A woman came to the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, my daughter has lost her husband and her eyes are sore; may she apply kohl to them?’ The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—replied, ‘No,’ and he repeated ‘No’ two or three times, each time saying, ‘No.’ Then he said, ‘It is only four months and ten days; in earlier times one of you would fling a clod of dung at the completion of a whole year.’”

Abū Muḥammad says: On the strength of this ḥadīth one must rely upon the opinion that mourning seclusion is obligatory.