After a divorce, do I have to avoid perfume, makeup and jewelry the way a widow does?

Sources

1. 1

   Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:155

   Open: Ibn Qudāmah, al-Mughnī (Ḥanbalī), 8:155 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 1

   وَلَا إحْدَادَ عَلَى الرَّجْعِيَّةِ. بِغَيْرِ خِلَافٍ نَعْلَمُهُ

   There is no iḥdād on a revocably divorced woman, with no disagreement that we know of.

2. 2

   Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-Mukhtār (Ḥanafī), 3:532

   Open: Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-Mukhtār (Ḥanafī), 3:532 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 2

   لَا) حِدَادَ عَلَى سَبْعَةٍ: كَافِرَةٍ وَصَغِيرَةٍ، وَمَجْنُونَةٍ وَ (مُعْتَدَّةِ عِتْقٍ) كَمَوْتِهِ عَنْ أُمِّ وَلَدِهِ (وَ) مُعْتَدَّةِ (نِكَاحٍ فَاسِدٍ) أَوْ وَطْءٍ بِشُبْهَةٍ أَوْ طَلَاقٍ رَجْعِيٍّ

   There is no iḥdād on seven, among them a woman in the iddah of an invalid marriage, of intercourse by mistake, or of a revocable divorce.

3. 3

   al-Nawawī, Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn (Shāfiʿī), p. 256

   Open: al-Nawawī, Minhāj al-Ṭālibīn (Shāfiʿī), p. 256 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 3

   ويجب الإحداد على معتد وفاة لا رجعية ويستحب لبائن وفي قول يجب

   Iḥdād is obligatory for a woman in the iddah of death, not for a revocably divorced woman; it is recommended for a finally divorced woman, and in one view obligatory.

4. 4

   Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-Mukhtār (Ḥanafī), 3:530–531

   Open: Ibn ʿĀbidīn, Radd al-Muḥtār ʿalā al-Durr al-Mukhtār (Ḥanafī), 3:530–531 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 4

   وَشَرْعًا تَرْكُ الزِّينَةِ وَنَحْوِهَا لِمُعْتَدَّةِ بَائِنٍ، أَوْ مَوْتٍ … إذَا كَانَتْ مُعْتَدَّةَ بَتٍّ، أَوْ مَوْتٍ) وَإِنْ أَمَرَهَا الْمُطَلِّقُ، أَوْ الْمَيِّتُ بِتَرْكِهِ لِأَنَّهُ حَقُّ الشَّرْعِ، إظْهَارًا لِلتَّأَسُّفِ عَلَى فَوَاتِ النِّكَاحِ (بِتَرْكِ الزِّينَةِ) بِحُلِيٍّ أَوْ حَرِيرٍ، أَوْ امْتِشَاطٍ بِضَيِّقِ الْأَسْنَانِ (وَالطِّيبِ) وَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ لَهَا كَسْبٌ إلَّا فِيهِ (وَالدُّهْنِ) وَلَوْ بِلَا طِيبٍ كَزَيْتٍ خَالِصٍ (وَالْكُحْلِ وَالْحِنَّاءِ وَلُبْسِ الْمُعَصْفَرِ وَالْمُزَعْفَرِ) وَمَصْبُوغٍ بِمَغْرَةٍ، أَوْ وَرْسٍ (إلَّا بِعُذْرٍ

   In the law, iḥdād is leaving adornment and the like, for a woman in the iddah of a final (bāʾin) divorce or of death. She observes it if she is in the iddah of a final divorce or of death, even if the divorcing husband or the deceased told her to leave it, because it is a right of the Sharīʿah, as a show of sorrow at the loss of the marriage: by leaving adornment with jewelry or silk, combing with a fine-toothed comb, perfume, oil (even unscented), kohl, henna, and clothes dyed with safflower, saffron or red clay, except for an excuse.

5. 5

   al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr ʿalā Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 2:478

   Open: al-Dardīr, al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr ʿalā Mukhtaṣar Khalīl, with Ḥāshiyat al-Dasūqī (Mālikī), 2:478 ↗ · checked Oct 18, 2026

   Read the passage: source 5

   وَتَرَكَتْ) الْمَرْأَةُ (الْمُتَوَفَّى عَنْهَا) (فَقَطْ) لَا الْمُطَلَّقَةُ وُجُوبًا

   Iḥdād is required of the widow only, not of the divorced woman.