Zaynab replied: “When a woman’s husband died, she would enter a hifsh (1)—that is, a small dwelling—wear her worst clothes, and neither apply perfume nor do anything else for an entire year. Then an animal—a donkey, a sheep, or a bird—would be brought to her, and she would rub herself with it. That is, she would wipe herself with it; and scarcely would she do so with anything without its dying. Then she would come out and be given a pellet of dung, which she would throw away. 39/b Thereafter, she would resume using whatever perfume or other things she wished.” Malik said: “She would rub herself with it; that is, she would wipe her skin with it.”

Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyib said: “The wisdom behind this period is that the spirit is breathed into the child during it. It is said that the child stirs—that is, moves—in the womb at half the duration of pregnancy: approximately four months and ten nights, which is close to half the term of pregnancy.” The expression “ten” is in the feminine form because it refers to nights. When the Arabs leave unspecified whether a number refers to nights or days, they give precedence to nights; thus, they say, “We fasted ten,” even though fasting occurs only during the day.

Al-Mubarrad said: “The word ‘ten’ is feminine because it refers to periods—that is, ten periods, each period consisting of a day and a night.”

If a woman whose husband has died is pregnant, then her waiting period ends upon delivery, according to the majority of the Companions and those after them. It is related from Ali and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, that she must wait until whichever of the two terms comes last: delivery or four months and ten nights. Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The shorter Sura of Women was revealed after the longer one.” By the shorter one, he meant Surat al-Talaq: “As for pregnant women, their term is until they deliver their burden” (al-Talaq 4). It was revealed after His saying, “They shall wait by themselves for four months and ten nights,” in Surat al-Baqarah; thus, he held it to have abrogated it. Most jurists, however, restricted the verse on the basis of the hadith of Subay‘ah, which is as follows:

Abu al-Hasan al-Sarakhsi informed us; Zahir ibn Ahmad informed us; Abu Ishaq al-Hashimi informed us; Abu Mus‘ab informed us, from Malik, from Hisham ibn Urwah, from his father, from al-Miswar ibn Makhramah: Subay‘ah gave birth a few nights after her husband’s death. She came to the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and sought his permission to marry. He gave her permission, and she married. (2)

His saying, exalted is He, “When they have reached the end of their term,” means: when their waiting period has ended. “There is no blame upon you”—this is addressed to the guardians—“for what they do concerning themselves,” that is, in choosing husbands, short of concluding the marriage contract, for the contract is the guardian’s responsibility. It was also said that it refers to the adornment they undertake.