Musnad al-Humaydi

Sayyida Zaynab bint Abu Salamah (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates from her mother, Umm al-Mu’minin Sayyida Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), that a woman came to the service of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and said: O Messenger of Allah! My daughter’s husband has passed away and my daughter has pain in her eyes, so can she apply kohl? The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Previously, a woman would throw dung after a year had passed (meaning her waiting period would end after a year), but now it is four months and ten days. Yahya says: I asked Humayd bin Nafi‘: What did the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) mean by these words, “Previously, a woman would throw dung after a year had passed”? He replied: In the time of ignorance, a woman (during mourning) would wear extremely bad clothes, then she would go to a far-off room in the house, and after a year had passed, she would take dung and throw it behind her back. Here, Imam Humaydi has sometimes narrated these words: she would throw it behind her back and say, “I have become lawful.”