Woman in ‘iddah moving to her family’s house because she is afraid to stay alone
Question There is a woman whose husband died, and she lives in a rented house in the same area, but far away from her family. There is only one brother but he cannot leave his work and stay with her. She is afraid to stay alone and she cannot pay the rent on the house. Answer Praise be to Allaah. It is obligatory for the woman whose husband has died to stay in the house in which she was living when he died, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded that. The authors of al-Sunan narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to Furay’ah bint Maalik: “Stay in the house in which the news of your husband’s death came to you, until your ‘iddah is over.” She said: So I observed ‘iddah there for four months and ten (days). Narrated by Abu Dawood, 2300; al-Tirmidhi, 1204; al-Nasaa’i, 200; Ibn Maajah, 2031, classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah. This is the view of the majority of scholars, based on this hadeeth, except ...