Sayyida Zainab (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that I went to the purified wife of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her), at the time when her father, Abu Sufyan bin Harb (may Allah be pleased with him), had passed away. Umm Habibah (may Allah be pleased with her) asked for perfume, in which there was the yellowish color of Khaluq perfume or some other mixture. Then a slave girl applied that perfume to her, and the Mother of the Believers herself applied it to her cheeks. After that, she said, "By Allah, I had no desire to use perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say: 'It is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for anyone for more than three days, except for her husband (for whom the mourning period is) four months and ten days.'"

Sayyida Zainab (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that after this, I went to the Mother of the Believers, Zainab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her), at the time when her brother had passed away. She also asked for perfume and used it, and said, "By Allah, I had no desire to use perfume, but I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) say from the pulpit: 'It is not permissible for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for any deceased person for more than three days, except for her husband, for whom the mourning period is four months and ten days.'"

Zainab bint Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her) said that I also heard Umm Salamah say that a woman came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and said, "O Messenger of Allah, my daughter's husband has passed away and she has pain in her eyes, so can she apply kohl?" The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) replied, "No," two or three times (he said this). Each time he would say, "No." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, "This (prescribed waiting period) is only four months and ten days. In the time of ignorance, you used to throw dung for a whole year (when the waiting period would be completed)."

Humaid (the narrator of the hadith) said that I asked Zainab bint Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with her), "What does it mean that she used to throw dung for a whole year?" She replied, "In the time of ignorance, when a woman's husband died, she would enter a very narrow and dark room, wear the worst clothes, and abandon the use of perfume, until a whole year would pass in that state. Then a beast—donkey, goat, or bird—would be brought to her, and she would touch it to come out of her waiting period. It was rare that she would touch an animal and it would not die. After that, she would be taken out and given dung, which she would throw away. Now she could use perfume or anything else." Imam Malik (one of the narrators of the hadith) was asked, "What does 'taftaddu bihi' mean?" He replied, "She would touch its body."

Lady Umm 'Atiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) said that we were forbidden (by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him) from mourning over any deceased person for more than three days, except in the case of a husband's death, for which the mourning period was four months and ten days. During these days, we would not apply kohl, nor use perfume, and we would not wear any colored garment except for 'Asb (a cloth made in Yemen which was also colored). And we were permitted (during the days of 'iddah) to use kust azfar after the ritual bath following menstruation.