Question
A woman whose husband has passed away is in her waiting period (iddah). She used to stay outside the home with her husband during the olive harvest season. Is it permissible for her to go out now with her son to work and stay there while she is in her iddah?
Answer
I say, and with God's success: It is not permissible to leave the house during the waiting period, nor to go to the olive harvesting house to work there, unless she is in need of work to support herself. In that case, it is permissible for her to go out during the day and return to her house to spend the night, even if this work is olive harvesting. If she has another house near the olives, it is permissible for her to spend the night there, and all of this is conditioned on her being in need of it. And God knows best.