Musnad Humaydi

Urdu Footnote:
Note:
(The first portion is sahih li-ghayrihi based on supporting evidence; otherwise, its narrator "Abbad bin Mansur" is a mudallis and has undergone ikhtilat [narrative confusion/mixing].)

1:
In this hadith, the command is for recommendation (istihbab). There is consensus (ijma‘) on the matter that it is better for the shroud (kafan) to be of white cloth.

Benefits and Issues:
It is recommended (mustahabb) that a person should wear white clothes, and that the deceased should also be shrouded in a white shroud (kafan).

Benefits and Issues:
Ithmid is a special Isfahani kohl which is reddish in color and is found in Hijaz.

Benefits and Issues:
➊
In this hadith, white clothing is praised, and it has been declared the best.
This clothing possesses dignity and elegance, which is in accordance with masculine majesty. However, wearing colored clothing is permissible, provided that the color is not one which, in common custom, is considered to be the color of women’s clothing, because it is forbidden for men to imitate women.

➋
For the shroud (kafan), white cloth is preferable.
However, any light-colored cloth may also be used.
The Prophetic instruction (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) is: “When one of your people passes away and he has the means, then his shroud should be of hibrah (a striped, patterned sheet).” (Sunan Abi Dawud, Al-Jana’iz, Chapter on the Shroud: 3150)

(1) Applying antimony (ithmid) kohl is recommended (mustahabb). And this recommendation applies to both men and women because the words of the blessed ahadith are general. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said: (Aktaḥilū bil-ithmid...) "Apply ithmid kohl, for it brightens and sharpens the eyesight and causes (eyelash) hair to grow."

(2) Just as it is permissible to apply kohl for sharpening the eyesight, it is also permissible to use it for adornment. There is no difference of opinion regarding women; however, some jurists (fuqaha) have prohibited its use by men for the purpose of adornment, because this is a colored adornment, and colored adornment is strictly prohibited for men. But this is an opinion in opposition to an explicit text, so it is not accepted. Furthermore, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) himself encouraged men to apply kohl. And Allah knows best.

Benefits and Issues: ➊ From this hadith, it is understood that white clothing was the preferred and beloved attire of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, although he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam also wore colored garments.
➋ The deceased should also be shrouded in a white shroud. Out of necessity, cloth of another color may also be used for the shroud.