'Iddah (Female Menstrual Waiting Period): Difference between revisions

Women observing their 'Iddah are not allowed to wear good clothes, or jewelry, or use perfume or Henna. Even combing their hair and applying the oil to them is also forbidden<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20211028112250/https://islamqa.org/hanafi/askmufti/45291/laws-of-the-iddat/ IslamQA Fatwa Website]</ref>.  Washing the face with aloe is also forbidden.

{{Quote|[https://sunnah.com/mishkat:3333 Mishkat al-Masabih 3333]|Umm Salama said: God’s Messenger came to visit me when Abu Salama died, and I had put the juice of aloes on myself. He asked me what it was, and I told him it was only the juice of aloes and contained no perfume, so he said, “It gives the face a glow, so apply it only at night and remove it in the daytime, and do not comb yourself with scent or henna, for it is a dye.” I asked God’s Messenger what I should use when combing myself, and he told me to use lote-tree leaves and smear my head copiously with them. Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani declared this Hadith to be FAIR (حسن) (link).}}Although these strictures again work to keep the woman from having any intercourse during her 'iddah by keeping herself relatively unnatractive, these laws once again completely disregard the happiness and freedom of the woman to whom they are applied. They also seem excessively harsh, as if she is truly keeping herself confined to her house the question arises as to who would see her with all of this makeup on even if she did apply it.  

A powerful idea within Islamic law and preaching is "promoting virtue and preventing vice" or in Arabic الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر literally "commanding in virtue and prohibiting vice." Muslims scholars argue that the institution of the 'iddah is in harmony with this principle, as the isolation of the woman during this period keeps her from falling into [[Zina]]. This idea is maintained even though going to parks, picnics, going on walks, going to social gatherings, visiting their relatives and staying with their parents is normally allowed to never-married women, who could also theoretically fall into zina. Unmarried Muslim women not in undergoing their 'iddah are also allowed to use Kolh and perfume, and to wear jewerly and good clothes, to take part in Henna and to wash their faces with Aloe. Never the less, all of these things are forbidden to women undergoing their 'iddah.