Allah the Almighty said to Zakariyya: {Your sign is that you shall not speak to the people for three nights, sound} (9), meaning [three] of its days (10), evidenced by the fact that He said in another place: {Your sign is that you shall not speak to the people for three days, except by signal} (11), meaning [along] with its nights. If one were to vow to observe I'tikaf (seclusion) for the last ten [days] of Ramadan, it would require both the nights and the days. A speaker also says: "We traveled for ten [days]," meaning the nights along with their days. Therefore, it is not permissible to shift [the meaning] from the 'idda to permissibility due to doubt.

Section: If the husband of a woman in a revocable divorce (raj'iyyah) dies, she must restart the 'idda of death, [which is] four months and ten days, without disagreement. Ibn al-Mundhir said: "All scholars whom we have memorized [knowledge] from have reached a consensus on this." This is because the woman in a revocable divorce is [still considered] a wife; his divorce [can still] reach her, and she is entitled to his inheritance; therefore, she observes the 'idda for death, like a woman who is not divorced. If a husband who has given a major (irrevocable) divorce dies while she is in her 'idda, she continues her 'idda of divorce, unless he divorced her during his death-sickness, in which case she observes the longer of the two periods: the 'idda of death or three menstrual cycles. Ahmad explicitly stated this, and it is the opinion of al-Thawri, Abu Hanifa, and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan. Malik, al-Shafi'i, Abu 'Ubayd, Abu Thawr, and Ibn al-Mundhir said: "She continues the 'idda of divorce; because he died while she was not his wife, since she is irrevocably separated from the marriage, and thus is not a spouse." Our argument is that she is his heir, so the 'idda of death becomes incumbent upon her, like the woman in a revocable divorce, and the 'idda of divorce remains binding upon her, for the reason they mentioned in their evidence. If the sick man who divorced [his wife] dies after her 'idda has expired—whether by menstrual cycles, months, or the delivery of a child—or if his divorce was before consummation, then she has no 'idda due to his death. The Qadi said: "The 'idda of death is upon them if we hold the view that they inherit from him, because they inherit from him by virtue of marriage, so the 'idda of death is incumbent upon them, just as if he died after consummation and before (12) the completion of the 'idda." Abu Talib narrated this from Ahmad regarding the one whose 'idda has expired. Ibn Abi Musa mentioned two narrations regarding it. The correct [view] is that there is no 'idda