Can a widow stay with her deceased husband's family?

Question:
Can a widow stay with her deceased husband's family, as per the latter's desire? What does Islam say in this case?

Response:
One way of making such a scenario workable is to get the widow married to some other male member of that family after her iddat (waiting period) is over. That, of course, has got to be done only after the lady gives her free consent.

The other possibilities of her living among the deceased husband's family are if she has her own children and if she gets a separate portion of the house where she is allowed to live with dignity. Also, if she is an old lady, there isn't much problem in enabling her to live with them. However, it is not desirable that the lady, if still in her marriageable age, stays in a house where there are no male mahram relatives, unless it is unavoidable because of her circumstances.

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