Is it permissible for women to refrain from leaving their homes for forty days if a man from their village dies, as a gesture of sympathy for his family?
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The questioner : It has become customary in the villages of our region that when someone from the village passes away, the women relatives of the deceased and some of the neighbors stay in their homes and do not leave them, whether to visit friends or relatives or for other occasions. They do this for forty days under the pretext of being polite and considerate toward the deceased's family and sharing in their grief. Is this permissible for them or not?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
What is mentioned in this question is part of *i'dad* (mourning). Mourning for anyone other than the deceased's family is forbidden, except for three days or less. Therefore, this practice must be condemned and prohibited, and it must be made clear that this is not part of Islam in any way, until these people stop doing it. I do not know if every time forty days pass and someone dies, whether these people will remain in their homes forever. This is a bad, reprehensible custom that must be avoided and abandoned. When someone is struck by the death of a relative, the Lawgiver has allotted them three days or less in which to mourn. However, a woman mourning her husband must mourn for four months and ten days if she is not pregnant. If she is pregnant, her mourning period lasts until she gives birth. Therefore, if a woman's husband dies while she is pregnant and she gives birth one day later or less, her waiting period and mourning period end.
On this occasion, I would like to say that some of the common people think that when a mourning woman's waiting period ends, she goes out to the market at that same hour, or at a similar hour to the one in which her husband died. She goes out with food or coins to give to the first person she meets. This is a religious innovation with no basis. The end of the waiting period simply means that when the waiting period ordained by Allah is completed, the woman is finished with her mourning, whether she goes out or stays in her house. The important point is that the prohibition on adorning herself, using perfume, and similar things has ended. That is the meaning of the end of the waiting period. It does not mean that she must go out at the same hour her husband died and go out with food or the like to give to the first person she meets. This is one of the customary matters that has no basis in the Shari'ah, so it is reprehensible.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
What is mentioned in this question is part of *i'dad* (mourning). Mourning for anyone other than the deceased's family is forbidden, except for three days or less. Therefore, this practice must be condemned and prohibited, and it must be made clear that this is not part of Islam in any way, until these people stop doing it. I do not know if every time forty days pass and someone dies, whether these people will remain in their homes forever. This is a bad, reprehensible custom that must be avoided and abandoned. When someone is struck by the death of a relative, the Lawgiver has allotted them three days or less in which to mourn. However, a woman mourning her husband must mourn for four months and ten days if she is not pregnant. If she is pregnant, her mourning period lasts until she gives birth. Therefore, if a woman's husband dies while she is pregnant and she gives birth one day later or less, her waiting period and mourning period end.
On this occasion, I would like to say that some of the common people think that when a mourning woman's waiting period ends, she goes out to the market at that same hour, or at a similar hour to the one in which her husband died. She goes out with food or coins to give to the first person she meets. This is a religious innovation with no basis. The end of the waiting period simply means that when the waiting period ordained by Allah is completed, the woman is finished with her mourning, whether she goes out or stays in her house. The important point is that the prohibition on adorning herself, using perfume, and similar things has ended. That is the meaning of the end of the waiting period. It does not mean that she must go out at the same hour her husband died and go out with food or the like to give to the first person she meets. This is one of the customary matters that has no basis in the Shari'ah, so it is reprehensible.