Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 18001 — A man who marries a woman and dies

Alqamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: A man came to Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) and said: "A man married a woman and died before fixing her dowry (mahr) and before having intercourse with her." Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Since the passing of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), I have not been asked anything as difficult as this; ask someone else." The people went around asking here and there for a month but reached no conclusion. So the man came back and said: "You hold a distinguished position among the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) in this town; you tell us." Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "I will speak by my own opinion. If it is right, it is from Allah, and if it is wrong, it is from me and from Satan. My view is that she gets a dowry equal to that of the women of her family, no less and no more; she also inherits, and she must observe the waiting period ('iddah) of a woman whose husband has died." On hearing this verdict of Sayyiduna Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him), people of Banu Ashja' said: "We bear witness that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave this very ruling concerning a woman of ours, Birwa' bint Washiq." The narrator said: On hearing this, I saw Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) happier than I had ever seen him.