Subayʿah said, “When he said that to me, I gathered my clothes at nightfall, went to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and asked him about the matter. He ruled that my waiting period had ended the moment I delivered my child and instructed me to marry if I wished.”
Ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī commented, “I see no harm in her marrying as soon as she gives birth, even if her post-natal bleeding has not stopped, except that her husband must not approach her until she is purified.”
Unfamiliar expressions
• Subayʿah: the sīn is pronounced with ḍamma and the bāʾ with fatḥa.
• “did not tarry long” (falam tanšab): with an open shīn; it means she did not remain for a lengthy period.
• “her post-partum bleeding ceased” (taʿallat min nifāsihā): with a fatḥa on the ʿayn and a doubled lām, meaning her lochia stopped and she became pure.
• Baʿkkak: with a fatḥa on the bāʾ, then a silent ʿayn, then two kāfs, the first bearing a fatḥa.
General meaning
Saʿd ibn Khawlah died leaving his wife Subayʿah al-Aslamiyyah pregnant. Before long she delivered her child. Once her post-natal bleeding ended she, knowing that delivery ends a pregnant widow’s waiting period, adorned herself. Abū al-Sanābil entered, saw her beautified, and realised she was preparing for suitors. He swore—based on his understanding of the verse, “Those of you who die and leave wives behind must wait by themselves for four months and ten days” (Q 2:234)—that she could not lawfully marry until that period had elapsed. Uncertain, and impressed by his oath, she went to the Prophet ﷺ, who informed her that she became lawful for marriage the moment she delivered and that, should she wish, she was free to marry, in accordance with the verse, “For pregnant women, their term ends when they deliver their burden” (Q 65:4).
Points derived from the ḥadith
- The widow is obliged to observe a waiting period.
- A pregnant woman’s ʿiddah ends with the delivery of her child.
- The unqualified term “ḥaml” (pregnancy) includes anything delivered in which the form of a human being has appeared.