Hadith: Do not confuse the Sunnah of our Prophet. The ‘Iddah of a mother-slave girl whose master dies is four months and ten (days)

عن عمرو بن العاص قال: "لا تُلَبِّسُوا علينا سُنَّةَ نبيِّنا عِدَّةُ أُمِّ الْوَلَدِ، إذا تُوُفِّيَ عنها سَيِّدُهَا أربعة أشهر وعشر".
[صحيح] - [رواه أبو داود وابن ماجه ومالك وأحمد]

‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Do not confuse the Sunnah of our Prophet. The ‘Iddah of a mother-slave girl whose master dies is four months and ten (days)."
[Authentic hadith] - [Narrated by Ibn Majah - Narrated by Abu Daoud - Narrated by Ahmad - Maalik]

Explanation

In this report, the honorable Companion ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās (may Allah be pleased with him) criticized those who argued without a proof about the issue of the ‘Iddah of a mother slave-girl (a slave girl who gave birth to a child from her master) whose master died. He clarified that her prescribed period is four months and ten days, exactly like the prescribed period of a free woman. Although this report expressly spells out this meaning, many of the scholars maintained that the waiting period of a mother slave-girl whose master died is the same as that of other slave-girls, which is the passing of a single menstrual period. This is the opinion of the majority of the scholars, and it is based on other proofs.