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989 Recently a married male member of my family has passed away, my Allah (S.W.T) rest his soul in peace. Some members of the extended family claim that the wife of the late male should be not allowed to see the face of the corpse, or leave the house for some period of time to show she is grieving the death of her late husband.

They also, claim that as he has died their husband/ wife relationship has ended. I know their claims are not 100% correct and was wondering if you could provide any
Hadiths/ Ayats that refer to such circumstances and what should/ shouldn't be done.
The widow is permitted to see the face of the deceased husband, owing to the relationship that they had. But the viewing should not lead to excessive wailing and it should not be done in such a way that it contravenes other Islamic laws (like for example, the place should not be where males and females are freely mixing).

It is strange that some of our Muslims object to the bereaved widow seeing the husband for the last time, but never question the open and free-mixing of the sexes in the workplace, town centres and colleges.

The woman is expected to sit the Idda for four months and ten days. During this period she is not to re-marry and avoids leaving the house without reason. Legally, the husband and wife relationship has not ended totally. This is because the widow inherits from the deceased. If the husband/ wife relationship was deemed as null and void at death, then she would receive no share as she would be seen as unrelated to the deceased.

(Answered by: Alims at Islamic Centre, Leicester, UK.)
Category (Death / Doomsday / Graveyard)
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