Section: The third thing that a woman in mourning must avoid is the niqab (face veil) and what is similar to it, such as the burqa and the like, because the woman observing 'iddah (waiting period) is likened to a woman in ihram, and a woman in ihram is prohibited from doing that. If she is in need of covering her face, she may let down (33) a covering over it as a woman in ihram does.

Section: The fourth is spending the night outside her home. Among those who made it obligatory for a woman whose husband has died (34) to observe her 'iddah in her own home are Umar and Uthman, may Allah be pleased with them. This is also narrated from Ibn Umar, Ibn Mas'ud, and Umm Salama. Malik, al-Thawri, al-Awza'i, Abu Hanifa, al-Shafi'i, and Ishaq held this view. Ibn Abd al-Barr said (35): "This is the view of the body of jurists of the major cities in the Hijaz, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt." Jabir ibn Zayd, al-Hasan, and Ata' said: "She may observe her 'iddah wherever she wishes." This is also narrated from Ali, Ibn Abbas, Jabir, and A'isha, may Allah be pleased with them all. Ibn Abbas said: "This verse abrogated her 'iddah with her husband's family, and she dwells according to her bequest, and if (36) she wishes she may leave, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: {But if they leave, there is no sin upon you in what they do with themselves} (37)." Ata' said: "Then inheritance was revealed and it abrogated the residence, so she observes 'iddah wherever she wishes." Abu Dawud narrated both (38). Our evidence is what Furay'a bint Malik ibn Sinan, the sister of Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (39), narrated: that she came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and informed him that her husband had gone out in search of some runaway slaves of his, and they killed him at the edge of al-Qadum (40). So I asked the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) to allow me to return to my family, for my husband did not leave me in a dwelling that he owned, nor any provision. She said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: