Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

I resently discovered this site and I can`t seem to get enough of it...so many questions remained unanswered for me but Alhamdullilah with Allah`s grace after reading the answers my mind is so much more clear....brothers and sisters have asked questions which I wud never dare raise but questioned them deep inside myself....ur answering them openly and without embarressment is deeply appreciated as these things need to be cleared amongst muslims....

My first question is concerning a woman`s iddah period......

When a wife dies the husband can continue his life as per routine (according to a friend go to the pub if he wishes) the very fourth day....but when a husband dies the wife has to morn him for 4 months and 10 days....Why?

I do accept that the wife should not dress herself up and look appealing during this morning period but what is so difficult for me to understand is that to stay HOUSE BOUND for that period....though I know that a woman can leave house if she has the need which nobody else can do for her.....but still to stay stuck in the house all this time...just the thought is depressing....already the woman is going through a difficult time due to the loss of her life partner....and then not to b able to go out for mayb a friends place (the friends can come over I know....but change of scene is of utmost importance too) or go to the supermarket to do grocery just for a change of scene even if someone can do for her.....i m told that during our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) time there was a woman whos husband died and since she had nobody else to look after her late husbands work she took his place due to which she did not stay home for the prescribed time period......what i m trying to say is that for every woman the need is different..maybe for someone to just get out of the house and meet a friend is a need......it would help a lot if u can throw some light on this matter....

My second question is totally different to the above....it is about suah nur:35....I have read many many commentaries on this ayat but I could not understand the ayat....and the commentaries....well they were even more difficult to grasp....in the end I gave up for the time being to understand what this ayat means.....pls can u explain to me in thorough detail as to what Allah is telling us in this ayat....

Jazakallah

Ur sister in islam

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Answer:

Significance of iddah and tafseer of verse Allah is Noor

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

May Allah Subhanah reward you with the best of this world and the Hereafter for your kind comments of encouragement for our humble efforts in the propagation of the Truth. If our humble and modest efforts have helped even one brother or sister get closer to Allah and His Deen of Truth, then we would consider ourselves indeed fortunate to have been given this opportunity by the Lord Most Merciful to serve in His Cause. We hope, beg, and pray the Merciful Lord accepts our humble and weak efforts, forgives us our shortcomings, and saves you, us, and all the believers from the torment of the Hell Fire. Ameen.

Your Question: My first question is concerning a woman`s iddah period...... When a wife dies the husband can continue his life as per routine (according to a friend go to the pub if he wishes) the very fourth day....but when a husband dies the wife has to morn him for 4 months and 10 days....Why?

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verses 234-235:

234 If any of you die and leave widows behind they shall wait concerning themselves four months and ten days: when they have fulfilled their term there is no blame on you if they dispose of themselves in a just and reasonable manner. And Allah is well acquainted with what ye do.

235 There is no blame on you if ye make an offer of betrothal or hold it in your hearts. Allah knows that ye cherish them in your hearts: but do not make a secret contract with them except in terms honorable nor resolve on the tie of marriage till the term prescribed is fulfilled. And know that Allah knoweth what is in your hearts and take heed of Him; and know that Allah is Oft Forgiving Most Forbearing.

Beloved Sister, the main wisdom behind the Command of ‘iddah’ for the believing widow is not to discriminate the woman, or to put undue hardship upon her…..but because Islam lays paramount importance on the relationship of blood and the rights of each heir, the All-Knowing, All-Wise Lord has Commanded the believing widows to perform the ‘iddah’ period of four months and ten days so that if there is any life in their wombs from their deceased husband, the rights of that un-born child are protected. That is precisely why Shariah prescribes that if the widow is pregnant at the time of the death of her husband, regardless of when she delivers her baby, be it one day or even nine full months after the death of her husband, her ‘iddah’ period will expire the day she deliveres her burden.

The ‘iddah’ waiting period is prescribed by non other than the One Who is All-Knowing, All-Wise….so that the rights of lineage and the inheritance rights of the un-born child (if any) are absolutely and thoroughly protected, and there remains absolutely no doubt in the mind of anyone regarding the chastity and honor of the widow.

Every other individual including the husband, or the father, or the mother, or the sister, or the daughter obviously are not in the same situation as the widow; thus Islam has absolutely prohibited the believers (men or women {except a widow}) that they shall not mourn any deceased for more than three days!

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.257 Narrated by Zainab bint Um Salama

Um Habiba bint Abi Sufyan said that I have heard the Prophet saying, "It is not lawful for a woman who believes in Allah and the Last Day to mourn for more than three days except for her husband for whom the (mourning) period is four months and ten days."

Your Question: what i m trying to say is that for every woman the need is different..maybe for someone to just get out of the house and meet a friend is a need......it would help a lot if u can throw some light on this matter....

Dear and beloved sister, sometimes we fail to realize the condition of a woman who has just lost her husband….and in our shortsightedness we assume that her needs are that of a person who has not been afflicted by such a huge and monumental calamity as the loss of a life-partner!

The restriction Islam lays upon the mourning widow is that she scrupulously protects her honor and chastity, even more so than she would normally do…..by not leaving her house without an extremely valid reason, by not associating unnecessarily with non-mehram males, by not wearing new or fancy clothes, by not applying perfume, by not applying adornments like jewelry or henna, etc.

One only has to compare this short waiting period of four months and ten days to the sacrifice a mother normally gives for her children all her life to put the matter of sacrifice a mother makes for her off-spring into perspective. If there is life in the womb of the widow at the time of her husband’s death, this sacrifice of her few rights for the prescribed period of ‘iddah’ absolutely secures the lawful rights of her un-born baby…..

Your Question: it is about suah nur:35....I have read many many commentaries on this ayat but I could not understand the ayat....and the commentaries....well they were even more difficult to grasp....in the end I gave up for the time being to understand what this ayat means.....pls can u explain to me in thorough detail as to what Allah is telling us in this ayat....

Dear and beloved sister in Islam, if one were to write volumes of books in their effort to explain this majestic metaphor and parable related by the Lord in this superb verse, Allah is our witness, they would never be able to do justice to its true and vast meanings and implications!

What we can do for you here is only present the most simplistic and basic meaning of this majestic metaphor and parable of the blessed verse.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 24 Surah Noor verse 35:

35 Allah is the ‘Noor’ of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His ‘Noor’ is as if there were a Niche and within it a lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: lit from a blessed Tree an Olive neither of the East nor of the West whose Oil is well-nigh luminous though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light. Allah doth set forth Parables for men: and Allah doth know all things.

Ref: Allah is the Noor of the Heavens and the earth.

Noor or light is something which makes things visible; which is itself manifest and helps make other things manifest. The absence of light is termed darkness, invisibility or obscurity. That is the concept of ‘noor’ or light in its basic and limited sense.

But when the term and Attribute ‘An-Noor’ is used for Allah Subhanah, it cannot be taken in its basic or limited meanings, but in its Total and Absolute sense; thus Allah is the Noor of the Heavens and the Earth would mean that He Alone in this universe is the Prime and Real Cause and Source and Manifestation of all Light….without His ‘Noor’ there is nothing but absolute and total darkness. Everything, absolutely everything which gives light and illuminates other things has got its light from Him and Him Alone.

Allah Subhanah has also used the term ‘Noor ‘ in His Glorious Quran for Knowledge, and many a times the Lord has termed ignorance as darkness. Thus in this context, Allah is the Noor of the heavens and the earth means that He Alone is the Absolute Source of all Knowledge, thus Guidance can only be obtained from Him and Him Alone. Without recourse to His Knowledge and Guidance, there would be nothing but the darkness of ignorance in this universe.

Ref: The parable of His ‘Noor’ is as if there were a Niche and within it a lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: lit from a blessed Tree an Olive neither of the East nor of the West whose Oil is well-nigh luminous though fire scarce touched it:

In this parable, Allah Subhanah has been likened to the Lamp, the universe as the Niche (or space), and the glass shade the Veil behind which The Lord has concealed Himself from His creation.

This veil is not a physical veil for concealment, but a veil caused by the intensity of Divine Manifestation. The human eye is unable to visibly see The Lamp (or Allah) not because of the intervening darkness, but because of the intensity of the All-Pervading, All-Embracing Noor radiating through the translucent veil.

As for the ‘lamp which is lit from a blessed Olive Tree, neither of the East nor of the West’ this is a metaphor to give an idea of the perfect light of the lamp and its absolute brilliance. In times of old, the source for the most brilliant light were the lamps lit by olive oil, and the most superior oil was that obtained from an olive tree standing in an open and elevated place. Just as a brilliant lamp illuminates the whole room, the metaphor explains that it is nothing but the ‘Noor’ of Allah Alone which can and does illuminate the whole universe.

The terms of the parable ‘whose oil is well-nigh luminous though fire scarce touched it’ are meant to emphasize the brilliance of the light of the lamp which is being fed by the finest oil. The olive tree, its neither being of the east nor the west, and its oil are not the essential elements of the parable, but attributes of the lamp. The essential elements of the parable are only three:

1. the Lamp which is likened to Allah Subhanah
2. the Niche (space) which is likened to the Universe
3. and the Glass shade, which is likened to the Veil.

Ref: Light upon Light! Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light

Means that although Allah’s Noor is illuminating the whole universe, everybody does not and cannot perceive it. It is Allah Alone Who blesses whomsoever He Wills with the capacity for perceiving His Noor. Just as the day and night, light and dark, white and black are alike to a blind man, so is the case of a man who has not been blessed by Allah to perceive from His Noor. The man may have eyes and see the electric light, the sun and its light, the moon and its shine, the stars and its brilliance….but without guidance, he is unable to perceive the manifest Noor of Allah Subhanah. For such a person there is nothing but the darkness of ignorance in this world.

Allah Alone Knows those who strive and are entitled to receive His Bounty of Guidance, and those who care not to search and seek guidance from His Noor. The Lord has no need to show His Noor or guidance to the one who has no desire or longing for it, who is merrily indulged in seeking the passing material pleasures and luxuries of this short and transient world. This bounty of guidance is only bestowed by the All-Knowing, All-Wise Lord upon those who in His Knowledge have a sincere desire for it.

In conclusion, the parable and the metaphors used within the verse are meant to emphasize the brilliance of the Noor, Light and Guidance of Allah Subhanah over all creation. Those who strive to seek, search, accept and unconditionally follow the guidance of Allah Subhanah will be successful in achieving salvation…..and those who seek or accept guidance from any other source than the Noor of Allah Subhanah will be doomed in this life and the Hereafter. The Value and Magnificence of the True and Real Brilliance and the Absolute and Perfect Light and Knowledge of the Lord is the basic essence and meaning that is underlined in this parable.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan