✦ Written by: ʿImrān Ayyūb Lāhorī
❖ Begin Washing from the Right Side of the Body
❀ Narration of Umm ʿAṭiyyah رضي الله عنها:
The Prophet ﷺ said at the time of washing his daughter:
“Start from her right side and from the parts of the body that are washed in wudu.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1255 – Kitāb al-Janāʾiz: Bāb Yubdaʾ bimiʾāmin al-mayyit]
❖ Ruling on Ghusl for the Martyr (Shahīd)
➊ Narration Regarding the Martyrs of Uḥud – Reported by Jābir رضي الله عنه:
“The Prophet ﷺ ordered that they be buried in their blood, without performing the funeral prayer and without giving them a ghusl.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1347, Sunan al-Tirmidhī: 1041, Sunan al-Nasāʾī 4/62, Ibn Mājah: 1514, Musnad Aḥmad 5/431, al-Bayhaqī 4/14]
➋ Narration from Jābir رضي الله عنه About a Man Struck in the Throat with an Arrow:
“He was shrouded and buried in the clothes he was wearing.”
Jābir رضي الله عنه added: “We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ at that time.”
[Ḥasan: Ṣaḥīḥ Abū Dāwūd: 2687, Kitāb al-Janāʾiz: Bāb fī al-Shahīd yughassal, also Abū Dāwūd: 3133]
Shawkānī رحمه الله said: Its chain is upon the conditions of Muslim.
[Nayl al-Awṭār 2/678]
Similar opinion is narrated from Ibn Ḥajar رحمه الله.
[Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr 2/240]
➌ Another Narration States:
“Do not wash them, for every wound will emit fragrance like musk on the Day of Resurrection. The Prophet ﷺ also did not perform their funeral prayer.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Aḥkām al-Janāʾiz, p. 73; Musnad Aḥmad 3/296; al-Fatḥ al-Rabbānī 7/159]
❖ Scholarly Opinions on Ghusl for the Martyr
- Ibn Ḥazm رحمه الله:
A martyr is not to be given ghusl.
[al-Muḥallā bi al-Āthār 3/336] - Majority of Scholars – Including Imām al-Shāfiʿī, Imām Mālik:
A martyr is not to be given ghusl under any condition.
Same view held by Imām Abū Yūsuf and Imām Muḥammad. - Imām Aḥmad and Abū Ḥanīfah رحمهما الله:
They hold that if the martyr was in a state of janābah, ghusl should be given.
Sources:
[al-Mudawwanah al-Kubrā 1/165, al-Kāfī 1/240, Bidāyat al-Mujtahid 1/164, Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī 4/270, Qawānīn al-Aḥkām p. 110, al-Umm 1/267, Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab 5/260, Ḥilyat al-Awliyāʾ 2/301, al-Mughnī wa al-Sharḥ 2/401, al-Inṣāf 2/498, al-Mabsūṭ 2/49, Tuḥfat al-Fuqahāʾ 1/258, Badāʾiʿ al-Ṣanāʾiʿ 2/802]
❖ Evidence for Ghusl in the State of Janābah
Those who consider ghusl necessary for a martyr in the state of janābah rely on the narration concerning Ḥanẓalah رضي الله عنه, who was martyred in such a state and was washed by the angels.
Narration:
“That is why the angels washed him.”
[Ṣaḥīḥ: Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl 3/167; al-Bayhaqī 4/15; Ibn Ḥibbān 9/84 – al-Iḥsān]
[Aḥkām al-Janāʾiz, p. 74]
Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله states: Imām al-Ḥākim considered it ṣaḥīḥ according to Muslim’s condition, and Imām al-Dhahabī affirmed it.
✔ The Stronger Opinion (Rājiḥ):
A martyr is not to be given ghusl, even if he was in a state of janābah.
Had it been obligatory upon people to wash such a martyr, the angels’ washing alone would not suffice. The Prophet ﷺ would have commanded the Companions to wash Ḥanẓalah رضي الله عنه, but no such command is reported.
- Imām al-Shawkānī رحمه الله: Follows this view.
[Nayl al-Awṭār 2/678] - Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله: Also favors this opinion.
[Aḥkām al-Janāʾiz, p. 75]
