Chapter: The prohibition of a woman’s private mourning for a deceased person beyond three days—except for her husband, in which case it is four months and ten days.

1774 – Zaynab bint Abī Salamah narrated: I visited Umm Ḥabībah, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ, after her father Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb had died. She asked for a perfume that contained a yellow tint—khulūq or something similar—applied some of it to a young girl, then dabbed a little on her own cheeks. She said, “By Allah, I have no need for perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say from the pulpit: ‘It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to observe mourning abstention (iḥdād) for any deceased person for more than three nights, except for her husband—for four months and ten days.’”

Zaynab continued: I later entered upon Zaynab bint Jaʿsh when her brother had died. She, too, asked for perfume, applied some to herself, and said, “By Allah, I have no need for perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say from the pulpit: ‘It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to observe mourning abstention for any deceased person for more than three nights, except for her husband—for four months and ten days.’”

Agreed upon.

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—said again: Chapter: The prohibition of a woman’s private mourning for a deceased person beyond three days, except for her husband—four months and ten days.