Even the Prophet Muhammad allowed a widow to leave her home during the four-month mourning period, said PKR Youth exco Wan Ji Wan Hussin.

He said this after BN said its Kuala Kangsar candidate Mastura Yazid should not be allowed to campaign as she is observing the idah period following the death of her husband, incumbent Kuala Kangsar MP Wan Mohammad Khair-il Anuar Wan Ahmad.

"While I admit there are views that widows must stay home, I believe it is not a total ban. Meaning, the context is to ensure a widow does not marry (within the mourning period).

"So the hadith which bars widows from wearing colourful clothes or leaving the home is in this context. If it does not lead to a new marriage, then it does not apply," he said in a Facebook posting.

Idah is the period a woman must observe after the death of her husband.

Wan Ji cites a hadith (prophetic tradition) where a family had censured a woman for going out of the home to pick dates during the iddah period.

"The matter came to the prophet's knowlege and he allowed the woman to leave her home to pick dates," said Wan Ji who heads PKR Youth's religious bureau.

This counters the view of Umno Youth exco member and Islamic scholar Fathul Bari Mat Jahaya who questioned if Mastura can campaign as she is still under idah.

The Quran bars marriage proposals to widows during the idah period of four lunar months and 10 days.

It is generally accepted that the idah period is to allay questions of paternity of a child who may be born, and to protect her from slander and ill-repute if she decides to re-marry.

Mastura's late husband died in a helicopter crash on May 5, during the Sarawak election campaign.

Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi said she can still campaign online, while Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin noted that she is not the first person to campaign for elections in absentia.

Khairy noted that DAP's M Manoharan even won the Kota Alam Shah state seat while under ISA detention.