Zaynab said, "I heard my mother, Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet ﷺ say that a woman came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said, 'Messenger of Allah! My daughter's husband died, and her eyes are troubling her, can she put kohl on them?' The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, 'No' two or three times. Then he said, 'It is only four months and ten days. In the Jahiliyya, none of you threw away the piece of dung until a year had passed.' " Humayd ibn Nafi said, "I asked Zaynab to explain what 'throwing away the piece of dung at the end of a year' meant. Zaynab said, 'In the Jahiliyya when a woman's husband died, she went into a small tent and dressed in the worst of clothes. She did not touch perfume or anything until a year had passed. Then she was brought an animal - a donkey, a sheep, or a bird, and she would break her idda with it, by rubbing her body against it (taftaddu). Rarely did she break her idda with anything (by rubbing herself against it) but that it died. Then she would come out and would be given a piece of dung. She would throw it away and then return to whatever she wished of perfumes or whatever.' " Malik explained, 'Taftaddu' means to wipe her skin with it in the same way as with a healing charm."  

وَسَمِعْتُ أُمِّي أُمَّ سَلَمَةَ زَوْجَ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ تَقُولُ جَاءَتِ امْرَأَةٌ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَقَالَتْ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ ابْنَتِي تُوُفِّيَ عَنْهَا زَوْجُهَا وَقَدِ اشْتَكَتْ عَيْنَيْهَا أَفَتَكْحُلُهُمَا فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ لاَ مَرَّتَيْنِ أَوْ ثَلاَثًا كُلُّ ذَلِكَ يَقُولُ لاَ ثُمَّ قَالَ إِنَّمَا هِيَ أَرْبَعَةُ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا وَقَدْ كَانَتْ إِحْدَاكُنَّ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ تَرْمِي بِالْبَعْرَةِ عَلَى رَأْسِ الْحَوْلِ قَالَ حُمَيْدُ بْنُ نَافِعٍ فَقُلْتُ لِزَيْنَبَ وَمَا تَرْمِي بِالْبَعْرَةِ عَلَى رَأْسِ الْحَوْلِ فَقَالَتْ زَيْنَبُ كَانَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ إِذَا تُوُفِّيَ عَنْهَا زَوْجُهَا دَخَلَتْ حِفْشًا وَلَبِسَتْ شَرَّ ثِيَابِهَا وَلَمْ تَمَسَّ طِيبًا وَلاَ شَيْئًا حَتَّى تَمُرَّ بِهَا سَنَةٌ ثُمَّ تُؤْتَى بِدَابَّةٍ حِمَارٍ أَوْ شَاةٍ أَوْ طَيْرٍ فَتَفْتَضُّ بِهِ فَقَلَّمَا تَفْتَضُّ بِشَىْءٍ إِلاَّ مَاتَ ثُمَّ تَخْرُجُ فَتُعْطَى بَعْرَةً فَتَرْمِي بِهَا ثُمَّ تُرَاجِعُ بَعْدُ مَا شَاءَتْ مِنْ طِيبٍ أَوْ غَيْرِهِ  

"My daughter's husband has died, and I am worried about her eyes; she needs kohl." He said: "One of you used to throw a piece of dung after a year had passed. Rather it (the mourning period) is four months and ten days." I (the narrator) said to Zainab: "What does 'after a year had passed' mean?" She said: "During the Jahiliyyah, if a woman's husband died she would go to the worst room she had and stay there, then, when a year had passed, she would come out and throw a piece of dung behind her." (Using translation from Nasāʾī 3540)  

أَنَّ امْرَأَةً مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ جَاءَتْ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ ﷺ فَقَالَتْ إِنَّ ابْنَتِي تُوُفِّيَ عَنْهَا زَوْجُهَا وَقَدْ خِفْتُ عَلَى عَيْنِهَا وَهِيَ تُرِيدُ الْكُحْلَ قَالَ «قَدْ كَانَتْ إِحْدَاكُنَّ تَرْمِي بِالْبَعْرَةِ عَلَى رَأْسِ الْحَوْلِ وَإِنَّمَا هِيَ أَرْبَعَةُ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرٌ» فَقُلْتُ لِزَيْنَبَ مَا رَأْسُ الْحَوْلِ؟ قَالَتْ كَانَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ إِذَا هَلَكَ زَوْجُهَا عَمِدَتْ إِلَى شَرِّ بَيْتٍ لَهَا فَجَلَسَتْ فِيهِ حَتَّى إِذَا مَرَّتْ بِهَا سَنَةٌ خَرَجَتْ وَرَمَتْ وَرَاءَهَا بِبَعَرَةٍ  

[Machine] The Prophet ﷺ came and she mentioned that her son-in-law had passed away and complained about her eye. She asked if she should put kohl on it. Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, "One of you used to throw the pebble at the head of the hoop, but it is only four months and ten days."  

أَتَتِ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ فَذَكَرَتْ أَنَّ زَوْجَ ابْنَتِهَا تُوُفِّيَ وَاشْتَكَتْ عَيْنَهَا أَفَأَكْحُلُهَا؟ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ قَدْ كَانَتْ إِحْدَاكُنَّ تَرْمِي بِالْبَعْرَةِ عِنْدَ رَأْسِ الْحَوْلِ فَإِنَّمَا هِيَ أَرْبَعَةُ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرٌ