Does the person who encounters the mourning woman suffer harm?

Question:
The first message in this episode is one that reached the program from Sudan, sent by a listener there who says: My name is Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali. Our brother has a collection of questions; in one of his questions, he says: If a woman’s husband dies—and as you know—she observes a mourning period of four months and ten days in the home, and before the period ends, she goes out and encounters anything, whether it is an animal or a human, does that thing die? Please guide us and guide the people regarding these customs. May Allah reward you with good.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance.
As for what follows: There is no doubt that it is obligatory for a woman whose husband has died to observe mourning for him for four months and ten days, as Allah has specified in His Noble Book. This is one hundred and thirty days, including their nights, unless it is established that some of the months were short and became twenty-nine days, in which case it is calculated for her if established by evidence, unless she is pregnant, in which case her waiting period is the delivery of the child, even if it is after death by minutes or hours, due to the saying of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) : [Al-Talaq: 4].
She may go out for her needs, such as the market or the needs of the house, or her need to see a doctor, and the like of needs that call for her to go out. There is no harm in this, provided she observes the covering and adheres to the Shari'ah etiquette, such as not using perfume, just like other women when they go out. They go out covered, not perfumed, and far from the causes of fitnah.
As for the claim of those who say among the common people: that if she encounters someone before she goes out, he dies, this is a false statement. This has no basis; rather, it is false and one of the superstitions that have no basis. So, like other women, if she goes out, there is nothing wrong with that, and she does not harm anyone. However, she must stay in the house and not go out except for a need. And if she goes out for a need, she does not harm anyone, neither an animal nor anything else. She must observe five matters:
The first matter: Her remaining in the house where her husband died and she was residing, staying there for the duration of the waiting period, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to Umm Salama when her husband died: , but there is no harm in her going out for her usual needs, or for a doctor, or for a lawsuit in court, or the like. And if she goes out, she goes out like other believing women, covered and veiled, leaving behind the causes of fitnah, such as perfume and others.
The second matter: That she wears ordinary clothes that do not contain fitnah. She wears ordinary clothes that are not beautiful; black or green or otherwise, and the important thing is that they are ordinary and do not contain fitnah. It is not necessary for them to be black; rather, she wears black and non-black, such as green and red and the like, but from clothes that do not contain fitnah.
The third matter: Avoiding perfume. She must stay away from perfume and not touch perfume, whether it is incense or otherwise, unless she has purified herself from menstruation, in which case there is no harm in her touching incense and using it, as the Sunnah has confirmed this from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Umm Atiyyah. This is specific to her purification from menstruation and to incense.
The fourth: Not wearing jewelry. She does not wear jewelry of gold, silver, diamonds, and the like, because wearing jewelry may cause fitnah for men regarding her, meaning: men may be tempted by her and strive to propose to her while she is in the waiting period, or for another matter of evil.
The fifth: Avoiding kohl and henna. The mourning woman does not apply kohl and does not use henna, because that is among the causes of fitnah and among the apparent adornment. The mourning woman must observe and care for these five matters until she completes her waiting period. There is no harm in her serving in her house and serving her children, and in her going out to the house garden and the roof of the house, at night and day, in the moonlight and not in the moonlight. All of this is permissible. She may change her clothes whenever she wishes and bathe whenever she wishes, and this is not specific to Friday or otherwise, but like other women, she bathes whenever she wishes and changes her clothes whenever she wishes. She bathes with water and suds, and there is no harm in using shampoo and the like. She does not touch perfume, as mentioned earlier. May Allah guide them all. Yes.

The presenter: O Allah, amen. May Allah reward you with good. So, she is not required to adhere to clothes of a specific color, as our brother indicates, saying: They oblige her to wear white clothes throughout the mourning period?

The Shaykh: No, that is a mistake. She is not obliged to wear a specific garment. She wears black and white that does not imitate men, and she wears green and yellow.
The point is that she wears women’s clothes that do not imitate men, but they are clothes that are not beautiful and not eye-catching.

The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.