About the place in which a woman whose husband has died, and a divorced woman as well, observes her waiting period.

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : All right, Shaykh, we heard in some of your tapes that you spoke about how if a woman’s husband dies and she is not in her husband’s house, she does not observe her waiting period in the house. We want to detail this and the evidence for it.

The Shaykh : It is established in some authentic hadiths from the Sunnah that a woman whose husband has died is ordered to remain in the marital home until her waiting period ends, and so is the divorced woman. However, there is a dispensation for the divorced woman that permits her to go out to attend to some of her needs if it is her custom to go out, such as for harvesting dates, meaning picking their fruit. If the divorced woman is accustomed to doing this and no one is available to do it for her, then it is permissible. As for the woman whose husband has died, there is nothing in the Sunnah that permits her what the Wise Lawgiver has permitted the divorced woman, even if she was divorced three times. This is the answer to this question.

The questioner : The question, Shaykh, is if her husband dies—her husband, I mean—and she is not in her husband’s house, meaning she is in her maternal uncle’s or paternal uncle’s house. I heard the tape and it said if her husband dies and she is not in the marital home, for example, if she is visiting one of her relatives, where does she observe her waiting period?

The Shaykh : The answer is the same, my brother.

The questioner : She returns to her husband’s house?

The Shaykh : No, no. She remains in the same house where she was when the news of her husband’s death reached her. She remains in the same house.

The questioner : If she is in the house of one of her friends, does she observe her waiting period there?

The Shaykh : Look, the answer is clear.

The questioner : I did not understand, oh Shaykh.

The Shaykh : But she remains in the house where she was when the news of her husband’s death reached her, even if it is not the marital home. However, some conditions or some questions may arise here, and every question has an answer. You asked, and I answered you, and I think the answer has become clear to you.

The questioner : I mean, if she was in her friend’s house.

The Shaykh : My brother, my brother. A woman whose husband has died, when the news of her husband’s death reaches her, whether she is in the marital home or in the house of one of her relatives, she must remain in the house where the news of the death reached her and where she is.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Is that understood or not?

The questioner : All right, you mean yes.

The Shaykh : Is it understood or not?

The questioner : It is understood, but there is a question. Do you mean she was residing there, or was she, for example, on a short visit?

The Shaykh : My statement is absolute, may Allah guide you. But it is possible that someone asks here whether this house is the house of a mahram (a relative one may not marry) or not? Is it a house where, for example, she is feared to be touched in her honor or her reputation, especially after her husband’s death, or not? That is why I said earlier that every question has an answer. As for the limits of what you asked, I have answered you the first time, the second time, and the third time that she remains where she is when the news reaches her. But necessities have their own rulings. If she fears for herself in that case, we say: move to the marital home. Even in the marital home, the same issue may arise sometimes. There may be... and I heard a very disturbing news that some of these young men who were imprisoned recently, who were called the Youth of Muhammad, I think, yes.

The questioner : Al-Nafir.

The Shaykh : The Army of Muhammad, yes. One of these young men was living with his brother, and this young man was married and a man, in our view, a righteous man. When he was imprisoned, the wife remained, and the sin occurred. We answer first according to the question, then according to the answer with the general rule. But if a condition or a restriction or something similar comes up, as I said earlier, every question has an answer. But we do not want to remain in receiving questions in a specific corner or a specific angle. We want to rotate, unless the whole group is bankrupt.
The student : No, they are not bankrupt.

The Shaykh : And they do not have this, it is permissible.

The questioner : One last question.

The Shaykh : No, absolutely not. Let your turn come, and you have taken, as they say, the lion’s share.

The questioner : To my right is Abu 'Abdullah.

The Shaykh : Here, then, is something.