Caution: Translations of Quran and Ḥadīth may lead to possible misapplications and misinterpretations. This site is intended for students of sacred knowledge that are proficient in comprehending classical Arabic and have a strong foundation in Islamic sciences. Also note that religious injunctions rely on several aspects beyond what one may glean through reading individual aḥādīth.
nasai:3540Muḥammad b. Maʿdān b. ʿĪsá b. Maʿdān > Ibn Aʿyan > Zuhayr b. Muʿāwiyah > Yaḥyá b. Saʿīd > Ḥumayd b. Nāfiʿ a freed slave of al-Anṣār > Zaynab b. Abū Salamah > Um Salamah

"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."  

النسائي:٣٥٤٠أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مَعْدَانَ بْنِ عِيسَى بْنِ مَعْدَانَ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ أَعْيَنَ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا زُهَيْرُ بْنُ مُعَاوِيَةَ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ عَنْ حُمَيْدِ بْنِ نَافِعٍ مَوْلَى الأَنْصَارِ عَنْ زَيْنَبَ بِنْتِ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ

أَنَّ امْرَأَةً مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ جَاءَتْ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَقَالَتْ إِنَّ ابْنَتِي تُوُفِّيَ عَنْهَا زَوْجُهَا وَقَدْ خِفْتُ عَلَى عَيْنِهَا وَهِيَ تُرِيدُ الْكُحْلَ فَقَالَ قَدْ كَانَتْ إِحْدَاكُنَّ تَرْمِي بِالْبَعْرَةِ عَلَى رَأْسِ الْحَوْلِ وَإِنَّمَا هِيَ أَرْبَعَةُ أَشْهُرٍ وَعَشْرًا فَقُلْتُ لِزَيْنَبَ مَا رَأْسُ الْحَوْلِ قَالَتْ كَانَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ إِذَا هَلَكَ زَوْجُهَا عَمَدَتْ إِلَى شَرِّ بَيْتٍ لَهَا فَجَلَسَتْ فِيهِ حَتَّى إِذَا مَرَّتْ بِهَا سَنَةٌ خَرَجَتْ فَرَمَتْ وَرَاءَهَا بِبَعْرَةٍ  


See similar narrations below:

Collected by Mālik, Nasāʾī's Kubrá, Bayhaqī
malik:29-114Zaynab

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."  

مالك:٢٩-١١٤قَالَتْ زَيْنَبُ

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  

nasai-kubra:5703Muḥammad b. Maʿdān b. ʿĪsá b. Maʿdān > Ibn Aʿyan > Zuhayr > Yaḥyá b. Saʿīd > Ḥumayd b. Nāfiʿ a freed slave of al-Anṣār > Zaynab b. Abū Salamah > Um Salamah

"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)  

الكبرى للنسائي:٥٧٠٣أَخْبَرَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مَعْدَانَ بْنِ عِيسَى بْنِ مَعْدَانَ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا ابْنُ أَعْيَنَ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا زُهَيْرٌ قَالَ حَدَّثَنَا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ عَنْ حُمَيْدِ بْنِ نَافِعٍ مَوْلَى الْأَنْصَارِ عَنْ زَيْنَبَ بِنْتِ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ عَنْ أُمِّ سَلَمَةَ

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  

bayhaqi:15465Abū ʿAbdullāh al-Ḥāfiẓ > Abū ʿAbdullāh Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb > Ibrāhīm b. ʿAbdullāh > Yazīd b. Hārūn > Yaḥyá b. Saʿīd > Ḥumayd b. Nāfiʿ > Zaynab b. Abū Salamah > Um Salamah And ʾUm Ḥabībah Tadhkurān > Āmraʾah Atat al-Nabī ﷺ

[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."  

البيهقي:١٥٤٦٥أَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ الْحَافِظُ أنا أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَعْقُوبَ نا إِبْرَاهِيمُ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللهِ أنا يَزِيدُ بْنُ هَارُونَ أَخْبَرَنِي يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ أَنَّ حُمَيْدَ بْنَ نَافِعٍ أَخْبَرَهُ عَنْ زَيْنَبَ بِنْتِ أَبِي سَلَمَةَ أَنَّهَا سَمِعَتْ أُمَّ سَلَمَةَ وَأُمَّ حَبِيبَةَ تَذْكُرَانِ أَنَّ امْرَأَةً

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  

رَوَاهُ مُسْلِمٌ فِي الصَّحِيحِ عَنْ أَبِي بَكْرِ بْنِ أَبِي شَيْبَةَ عَنْ يَزِيدَ بْنِ هَارُونَ 15466 وَأَخْبَرَنَا أَبُو عَبْدِ اللهِ الْحَافِظُ وَأَبُو بَكْرِ بْنُ الْحَسَنِ قَالَا نا أَبُو الْعَبَّاسِ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَعْقُوبَ ثنا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ إِسْحَاقَ ثنا شُجَاعُ بْنُ الْوَلِيدِ ثنا يَحْيَى بْنُ سَعِيدٍ عَنْ حُمَيْدِ بْنِ نَافِعٍ مِنَ الْأَنْصَارِ فَذَكَرَ الْحَدِيثَ بِمَعْنَاهُ وَزَادَ فِيهِ قَالَ حُمَيْدٌ فَقُلْتُ لِزَيْنَبَ ؓ وَمَا رَأْسُ الْحَوْلِ؟ فَقَالَتْ زَيْنَبُ كَانَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ إِذَا هَلَكَ زَوْجُهَا عَمَدَتْ إِلَى شَرِّ بَيْتٍ لَهَا فَجَلَسَتْ فِيهِ حَتَّى إِذَا مَرَّتْ بِهَا سَنَةٌ خَرَجَتْ وَرَمَتْ بِبَعْرَةٍ وَاللهُ أَعْلَمُ