Mourning for an elderly widow, and jewellery that is hard to remove

A question on whether mourning applies to an elderly widow and on removing jewellery that is hard to take off, in which Ibn Baz answered that mourning applies to all and the jewellery is removed. ¹

The questioner asked whether a widow must remove her jewellery even when it is difficult, and whether mourning covers a woman of advanced age. ¹

Ibn Baz answered that mourning applies to the young and the elderly alike, and to a wife whether or not the marriage was consummated. ¹ He distinguished the widow from the divorcee: a woman whose husband dies after the contract but before consummation owes the waiting period and mourning and inherits from him, whereas a woman divorced before consummation owes no waiting period. ¹ He said the jewellery is removed, and a bracelet that has grown tight on the wrist is cut off rather than left on. ¹

This answer is published on binbaz.org.sa, the official site of Ibn Baz's legacy, as fatwa 4001. ¹ The museum records this text as a historical document attributed to the body or scholar that issued it; it issues no ruling of its own.