Importance and Method of Ghusl, Shrouding, and Burial in Islam

Source:
This excerpt is taken from the book Ṣaḥīḥ Ṣalāh Nabawī ﷺ published by Maktabah Dār al-Andalus, authored by Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAzīz.

The Importance of Preparing and Shrouding the Deceased (Tajhīz wa Takfīn)​

❀ Preparing and shrouding the deceased is obligatory (farḍ).

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

اغسلوه بماء وسدر وكفنوه

“Wash him with water and lotus leaves, and shroud him.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Book of Funerals, Chapter: Shrouding in Two Garments: 1265 – Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1206

The Virtue of Those Who Prepare and Shroud the Deceased​

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

من غسل مسلما فكتم عليه غفر الله له أربعين مرة، ومن حفر له فأجنه أجري عليه كأجر مسكن أسكنه إياه إلى يوم القيامة، ومن كفنه كساه الله يوم القيامة من سندس وإستبرق الجنة

“Whoever washes a deceased Muslim and conceals his faults, Allah will forgive him forty times. Whoever digs a grave and buries him, he will be rewarded as though he provided him a dwelling until the Day of Resurrection. And whoever shrouds him, Allah will clothe him on the Day of Resurrection with silk and brocade of Paradise.”

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā lil-Bayhaqī: 3/395, ḥadīth: 6655 – al-Mustadrak li’l-Ḥākim: 1/362, 1/354, ḥadīth: 1307, 1340 – authenticated by al-Albānī in Talkhīṣ Aḥkām al-Janāʾiz: 31; al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī declared it ṣaḥīḥ according to Muslim’s conditions

Etiquettes of Washing the Deceased​

❀ Remove any ring, watch, etc., if present.
❀ Cover the body from the navel to the knees with a cloth, then remove the clothing. During washing, the private parts must neither be seen nor touched without a cloth, except out of necessity.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

لا ينظر الرجل إلى عورة الرجل ولا المرأة إلى عورة المرأة

“A man must not look at the private parts of another man, nor a woman at the private parts of another woman.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, Book of Menstruation, Chapter: Prohibition of Looking at the Private Parts: 338

❀ Gently press the stomach two or three times so that any impurity may exit, then clean the private parts with water using a gloved or covered hand.
❀ Clean the nose, teeth, mouth, and ears thoroughly with moist cotton so that excessive washing is not required during wuḍūʾ.
❀ Begin washing from the right side and from the limbs of wuḍūʾ.

Umm ʿAṭiyyah رضي الله عنها said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said while washing his daughter:

ابدأن بميامنها ومواضع الوضوء منها

“Begin with her right side and the limbs of wuḍūʾ.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1255 – Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 939/42

Additional Guidelines During Washing​

① Boil lotus leaves in water and wash the body with it (using soap or shampoo is also permissible).
② Add fragrance during the final wash; camphor is preferable if available.
③ A woman’s braids should be untied and washed thoroughly.
④ After washing, make three braids of a woman’s hair and place them behind her.
⑤ The body may be washed three, five, seven times, or more if needed, but in odd numbers.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1253, 1263 – Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 939

Who Should Wash the Deceased?​

❀ Men should wash men, and women should wash women.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1253 – Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 939

❀ Husband and wife may wash each other, and this is preferable.

ʿĀʾishah رضي الله عنها said:

لو كنت استقبلت من أمري ما استدبرت ما غسل النبي ﷺ غير نسائه

“If I had known earlier what I realized later, none would have washed the Prophet ﷺ except his wives.”

Reference: Sunan Ibn Mājah: 1464 – ṣaḥīḥ

❀ The belief that a husband cannot see his deceased wife or lower her into the grave is false and contrary to the Qur’an and Sunnah. In fact, the husband has more right than others.
❀ The closest relatives should wash the deceased, as the Prophet ﷺ was washed by his close relatives.
❀ Hiring an imam or another person for payment to wash the deceased is incorrect.
❀ The washer must know the rulings and method; appointing an ignorant or non-Muslim person is strictly impermissible.

Duties of the One Who Washes the Deceased​

❀ It is haram to disclose the faults of the deceased.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

من غسل مسلما فكتم عليه غفر الله له أربعين مرة

“Whoever washes a deceased Muslim and conceals his faults, Allah will forgive him forty times.”

Reference: al-Sunan al-Kubrā lil-Bayhaqī: 4/395 – al-Mustadrak: 1/362, 1/354

❀ The washer should perform ghusl afterward, and the carrier should perform wuḍūʾ.

من غسل الميت فليغتسل، ومن حمله فليتوضأ

Reference: Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 3161 – ṣaḥīḥ

❀ Another narration states:

ليس عليكم في غسل ميتكم غسل… فإن ميتكم ليس بنجس

“You are not required to perform ghusl after washing your deceased, for your dead are not impure; washing your hands is sufficient.”

Reference: al-Mustadrak: 1/286 – authenticated by al-Ḥākim and al-Dhahabī; graded ḥasan by Ibn Ḥajar and al-Albānī

Washing a Pilgrim (Muḥrim)​

A person who dies in the state of iḥrām should not be perfumed.

اغسلوه بماء وسدر… ولا تخمروا رأسه فإنه يبعث يوم القيامة ملبيا

“Wash him with water and lotus leaves, shroud him in two garments, do not apply perfume, and do not cover his head, for he will be raised on the Day of Resurrection reciting the talbiyah.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1265 – Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1206

Washing the Martyr​

❀ Martyrs of the battlefield are not washed, nor is their blood removed.

ادفنوهم في دمائهم

“Bury them with their blood.”

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1346

❀ The opinion that a martyr in major impurity must be washed is incorrect; the hadith of Ḥanẓalah رضي الله عنه does not prove this.

Reference: Musnad Aḥmad: 14199 – ṣaḥīḥ

Who Provides the Shroud?​

❀ The shroud should be taken from the deceased’s wealth.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1851 – Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1206

❀ It is also permissible for someone else to provide it.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1261 – Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 4939

The custom that a married woman’s shroud must be provided by her parents is un-Islamic and oppressive.

Characteristics of the Shroud​

❀ It should be good and sufficient to cover the body.

إذا كفن أحدكم أخاه فليحسن كفنه

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 943

❀ The shroud should be white.

البسوا من ثيابكم البيض… وكفنوا فيها موتاكم

Reference: Sunan Abī Dāwūd: 4061 – Tirmidhī: 1010 – ṣaḥīḥ

❀ Three garments are recommended for men.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1264 – Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 941

❀ If cloth is insufficient, cover the head and conceal the rest.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1276 – Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 2177

❀ Excessively expensive shrouds are extravagance and haram.

﴿وَلَا تُبَذِّرْ تَبْذِيرًا﴾

Reference: al-Isrāʾ: 26–27

❀ Old clothes may also be used as a shroud.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1387

Woman’s Shroud​

❀ A woman may be shrouded in the same manner as a man; no authentic hadith establishes a separate shroud.

Collective Shrouding​

❀ If cloth is scarce, multiple deceased may be shrouded in one garment.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1343

Shroud of a Muḥrim​

❀ A pilgrim who dies in iḥrām is shrouded in his two iḥrām garments, with head and face uncovered.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1851 – Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1206 – Sunan Ibn Mājah: 3084

Shroud of a Martyr​

❀ A martyr is buried in his clothes.

زملوهم في ثيابهم

Reference: Musnad Aḥmad: 5/431, ḥadīth: 24056 – ṣaḥīḥ/ḥasan

If additional cloth is available, it may be used, as done with the martyrs of Uḥud.

Reference: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1343