Chapter Four
Rulings Relating to
the Dying and Recently Deceased
Introduction
1- The obligation to make a will
251. When a person is on the verge of death in a way that strengthens the conviction that the end is near, he must repent without delay and pay back all financial obligations due to God and people, such as khums, zakat and deposits/trusts (of others); if he is unable to do this, he should ask someone he trusts to do so after his death. He must also carry out all worship duties, such as pilgrimage, prayer and fasting, and if he is unable to do so he must ask someone to do them on his behalf, unless he trusts his eldest son to perform them after his death. In addition, he must appoint a guardian to his children who have not reached the legal age, if the normal guardian (who is the grandfather from the father’s side) is not present, if protecting them and their property depend on it. And whereas such a will is not obligatory, it is (nonetheless) recommended, especially if the dying person wants a third or any part of his property to be spent on charity.
2- What is to be done when death approaches (Ihtidar)
252. The Muslim mohtader (person during Ihtidar, i.e. when death becomes very near) must – if he/she is capable of doing so – turn towards the direction of the qiblah (Mecca), as an obligatory precaution, otherwise it becomes a duty on others, as an obligatory precaution, to turn him/her in that direction, be they old or young, sane or insane. The way to do this is to make the person lie on his/her back with the soles of the feet facing in the direction of the qiblah so that if the person sits he/she will be facing the qiblah with his/her face and front. If death occurs, it is an obligatory precaution to keep the person pointing in the direction of the qiblah at all times until praying for him/her starts, but if this is not possible, the obligation is cancelled.
3- The signs of death
253. The Islamic Shari‘ah has not established for us a precise definition of death, and although it is commonly accepted that death means that the heart stops beating and breathing stops, it is probable that death actually takes place with the death of the brain, as this is the part responsible for man’s life in general. In any case, when the brain ceases to function, and the body shuts down completely and this is beyond doubt, it becomes no longer obligatory to continue using the modern machines that keep the heart beating; and so if such a machine is in place, it is allowed to turn it off, since the patient is not considered naturally alive, but rather the activity in his body is maintained by the machine alone, which provides an artificial life for the heart.
4- The persons responsible for the newly deceased
254. All Muslims are under the obligation to carry out the duties regarding the newly deceased – pointing the body towards the qiblah, washing, tekfeen (wrapping the body with the kefen, i.e. the shroud, see below), tehneet (applying camphor to specific parts of the body, see below), praying and burial - an obligation under the conditions of sufficiency (wojub kifa’i), so that if some carry it out the others are relieved of the obligation, but if they ignore it everyone will have sinned. In any case, whoever takes on this duty must have the permission of the waly (family/guardian) of the deceased, who is the nearest person (s) to the deceased as far as inheritance is concerned. The exception to this is the husband, who has more rights in this than his deceased wife’s relatives. Moreover, the precaution should not be ignored in giving the right to adults at every level of inheritance (when considering this matter). But when all of these are not present, an Islamic authority (jurist) should take control of the affairs of the deceased, and then the control may be passed on to just individuals amongst the believers.
255. Bolugh, sanity and Islam are not obligatory conditions for anyone who is carrying out the duties for the dead that do not require the intention of qorbeh (i.e. the deed offered in compliance with God’s commands); it seems that things like prayers for the dead and washing him/her are acceptable if performed by a child who is aware of his or her duties, provided that they are performed in the Islamically correct manner.
256. The executor (waly) who is entrusted with carrying out the duties for the deceased does not have to ask the permission of the waly, although doing this is better.
257. The martyr (who is one killed in an Islamically approved struggle for the protection of Islam and Muslims), if he dies on the battlefield before the battle ends, so that other Muslims find him dead after the battle, should have neither washing nor takfeen carried out, but they should pray for him and then bury him in the clothes in which he was killed, unless they were torn as a result of the fighting, or if the enemy took his clothes off, in which case takfeen should be be carried out, even if he is stained with blood.
As for the person sentenced to death, in this case the Islamic authority orders him to carry out the wash of the dead, then to do the takfeen with the cloth and the shirt (the first two pieces of kefen), and tahneet; takfeen with the full cover (the third piece of the kefen) is carried out after he is killed, and then prayers for him are performed and he is buried. Washing the blood from his kefen is not obligatory.
258. It is acceptable to charge a fee for carrying out the duties of the dead, if this does not invalidate the intention of qorbeh; this renders acceptable and allowed the money paid to those who carry out these duties as a profession, as there is no problem in it even if the reason for doing so is the desire to earn money, as long as that does not exclude the intention of qorbeh.
259. All the duties mentioned are obligatory for the incomplete corpse, such as a dead person who has lost limbs, or the skeleton without flesh. But if a part of the body is found that includes the torso, or if the torso alone is found, it is a recommended precaution to carry out the washing and takfeen as appropriate, and to carry out tahneet ifone of the places for tahneet is present, then to perform the prayer and the burial. However, if the torso is not found, but rather only one of the deceased's bones that includes some flesh, then this should be wrapped in a cloth and buried, and there is no need to pray or to wash it; likewise if flesh is found without bones.
260. If a Muslim specifies in a will the duties to be performed after his death, the prayers for him and the burial, the expenses for these may be taken from the third of his estate as in his will, otherwise they must be paid from the original (full) estate, taking priority over any other duty such as debt, khums or pilgrimage, not to mention the inheritance and other legacies; it should be taken out of the full estate provided that the duties of the dead are carried out at the minimum level that is called for Islamically and at a level that conforms to the deceased’s (social) status, unless the heirs wish to spend more, in which case such additional costs are to be taken from the share of the adults not the young.
261. The expenses for the duties of the deceased person's wife is obligatory on the husband, if he can afford this without difficulty and if he is not prevented from controlling his money, unless if they die together or if she has requested in her will that these duties are to be paid for from her estate; in these two cases, the expenses must be met from her estate. In any case, it makes no difference if the wife is young or old, sane or insane, these obligations apply whether the marriage has been consummated (by intercourse) or not, whether she is the wife by permanent marriage or by term/temporary marriage – as an obligatory precaution, the obligations apply even in the case of a nsshiz (a woman who has been declared disobedient of her husband), as aslo,as an obligatory precaution, in the case of a woman who has been divorced by a revocable divorce (rej’i), but not in the case of one who has been divorced by an irrevocable divorce (ba‘in). Equally, it makes no difference if the husband is young or old or sane or insane; but in the case of the young or the insane, the expenses are to be met by their guardians from their estate.
(A) Washing the dead
262. Every dead Muslim must be washed, male or female, young or old, sane or insane, whether the corpse has a complete body or is just a skeleton without flesh, or missing some of parts such as a head, hand and the like; but if the remains do not include the torso, washing is not obligatory, though it is better. As for a miscarriage, if the embryo is older than four months, it must be washed and wrapped with a kafan, otherwise it must be wrapped with a cloth and buried after washing.
263. The person performing the washing has to be the same as the deceased in two things:
1- The same in gender, i.e. a dead female must be washed by a female and a male by a male, even if no seeing or touching is involved, unless the washer is one of the deceased’s unmarriageable relatives (maharim), in which case a male can wash the female and vice versa, but then the ‘awreh (private parts) must be covered. Also excluded from this condition are cases where the deceased is young – apart from unmarriageable relatives; so it is allowed for men to wash young female children and for women to wash male children who are not aware of sexual matters, although it is better if the male does this for a female child who is no more than three years old. Also excluded from this condition is the washing of one spouse by the other; in this case it is not necessary to cover the private parts.
2- The same in Islam, i.e. both the deceased and the washer must be Muslims, but similarity in the school of thought is not obligatory.
264. If the sex of the deceased is not known, it is allowed to resort to qor‘ah (like tossing of a coin but in a certain way), but it is better for both the male and female to wash the body from behind the clothes.
265. When a person of the same religion is not available, it is allowed that a person from among the People of the Book (Christians and Jews) carries out the washing, and the intention of qorbah is not essential.
266. It is a condition for the validity of the wash of the dead that all the conditions that have been mentioned for ablution and washing are met: the purity of water, its purity and freedom of use; the freedom of the organs of the deceased’s body from impurities (nejasah khebethiyyeh); the removal of any Hajib; the order (tertib); the availability of of water etc, in addition to the intention.
267. The deceased must be washed three times in the following order:
First: with water mixed with the crushed leaves of the sidr (beri) plant.
Second: with water mixed with camphor.
Third: with pure water that has not been mixed with anything.
268. Order (tertib) must be observed in each of the three washes. This is done by washing the head and neck first, then the whole of the right side, then the whole of the left side; it is an obligatory precaution to wash the private parts with each side. In contrast to the wash from janabah, it is not valid to wash the dead by immersing the whole body under water.
269. When mixing the water with sidr or camphor, care should be taken not to mix in so much of these substances that it invalidates the motlaq (i.e. not mixed) state of the water.
270. If a pilgrim, whether on the pilgrimage or ‘uomrah, dies in the state of ihram, camphor is not to be mixed with the water of the second wash, but to be replaced by washing with pure water, unless the death took place after completing the circum-ambulation of the Ka'bah in pilgrimage or ‘omrah.
271. If sidr, camphor or both are not available, the dead should be washed with pure water with the intention of using an alternative to the substances that are unavailable (bedeliyyeh ‘an al-Mote‘athir); it is better to add a tayammom for each wash in which pure water is used instead.
272. If a person dies with janabeh or menses, there is no need for a (another) wash for this; the wash of the dead is sufficient.
273. It is not a condition to wait for the body of the dead to become cold before starting the wash; washing before this is valid.
274. If urine or semen comes out from the dead person during or after the wash, it is not obligatory to repeat the wash, but only to purify the place of the impurity; the same applies if the impurity came from the outside.
275. If it is not possible to wash the dead due to a lack of water or the like, tayammom must be performed once instead of the three washes, although it is better to carry out the tayammom three times for the three washes, while the intention of using the alternative to washing is obligatory. In this case, tayammom using the hand of the living person is sufficient, although carrying it out using the hand of the deceased is better.
276. If it is possible to perform the washing after the tayammom and before the burial, the tayammom becomes void and washing is obligatory; but not if this becomes possible after the burial, unless the corpse is uncovered in the grave for some reason; in this case it is an obligatory precaution to wash it, and if it is washed after taking it out, takfeen, tahneet and prayer must be repeated, before burying it again. The same ruling applies if sidr, camphor or both were unavailable and the deceased was washed without them.
277. It is obligatory to wait until any bleeding stops if the deceased is wounded, or is someone who has died as a result of an accident, before washing them; but if this is not possible, the water should be poured in such a way that it overwhelms the location, even if for just one moment, to drive the blood away from the source of the bleeding and thus making the wash valid. If blood comes out after this, the wash is still valid, although the source must be purified and wrapped with a bandage to stop the flow of more blood.
278. If the deceased’s body has a splint or bandage on it, if is was possible to take it off then this is an obligation; otherwise the body must be washed by wiping over the bandage or splint; it is an obligatory precaution to add tayammom to it, unless the splint or bandage is present on the organs of tayammom, in which case washing is sufficient.
279. If a dead person is buried without washing, or if after burial it is found that the washingwas not correctly performed, the body must be exhumed and washed, even if a long time has elapsed and the body has become merely bones. This applies only if this does not dishonour the dead person; otherwise exhumation is not allowed. And in the case of exhumation and washing, takfeen, tahneet and prayers must be carried out again before reburial.
280. In the case of an accident that has caused the deformation of the corpse to the extent that it is not possible to distinguish the hands and face, when washing is not possible, the tayammom is not obligatory, since there is no longer a place for it.
(B) The tahneet
281. Tahneet must be done to the dead, male or female, young or old, even the miscarried fetus if it is older than four months. Tahneet is touching with camphor the seven areas of sojud. The seven sojud areas are: the forehead, the inner part of the two palms, the two knees and the two big toes. It is better if the person carrying out this process uses his palm, and it is better that the amount of camphor used is around 32.5 gm. When camphor is not available, tahneet is no longer obligatory. Order in doing the seven sojud areas is not obligatory, neither is the intention of qorbeh.
282. Tahneet is to be done after finishing the wash, and it can be carried out before, during or after takfeen.
283. It is a condition that the camphor used is free (to use), a powder, has odour/scent and is pure.
284. It is recommended that the deceased's joints, upper part of the torso, chest, the interior sides of the feet, the outer sides of the hands and the armpits are wiped with camphor, but it is recommended not to put it on the face, or to allow it to enter the eyes, nose or ears.
285. Tahneet is not obligatory, and it is forbidden for the person in ihram for pilgrimage or ‘omrah, unless if he/she died after completing the circum-ambulation of the Ka'bah in pilgrimage or ‘omrah.
(C) The takfeen (shrouding)
286. It is an obligation under the conditions of sufficiency (wojub kifa’ī) to bury every dead Muslim with a shroud (kefen), even the miscarried fetus if over four months old; but if less than four months old, it must be wrapped with a piece of cloth and buried, but no intention of qorbeh is necessary.
287. Every dead body has to be shrouded with a kefen, which consists of three pieces, placed in the following order:
1- Al-Mi’zar (loin cloth), which covers the area between the navel and the knee.
2- Al-Qamīs (shirt or tunic), which covers the area between the two shoulders and the middle of the leg.
3- Al-Izar, which covers the whole of the dead body from head to feet.
288. If the three pieces are not available, anything available can be used, even if it is only one piece of cloth covering the whole body; and if such a cover for the whole body is not available, anything that can cover most of the body may be used, and so on. For lack of a better option, whatever is available should be used.
289. The kefen must be free to use (mubah), free from any impurity as applies to what is allowed when praying as an obligatory precaution. It must not be made from pure silk, even for women and children as an obligatory precaution, but silk is allowed if it is mixed with a greater proportion of another textile, not including gold brocade even in very small quantities; and it must not made from the skin of an animal that is forbidden to eat, or its hair or fur, nor from the skin of an animal that can be eaten, or its wool or fur; also, it must not be taken from the skin of a dead animal. In addition, every piece must be a complete cover for the area underneath, so it is not sufficient to make the whole kefen out of a single piece of cloth as a complete cover, or that the kefen is like the kind of textile clothing which is commonly regarded as a garment; and it is not acceptable to wrap the dead with threads or wool before they have been woven into cloth.
290. It is recommended that two freshly cut/green (tree) branches are included in the shroud, and it is better to place one of them on the right side, stretching from the shoulder bone downwards and bound to the body, and the second on the left side like the first but to be placed over the qamīs (the second piece of the kefen) before wrapping with the izar (the third piece of the kefen). It is better to use a palm tree branch (nekhl), otherwise a branch of sidr or pomegranate, otherwise of khallaf, or, failing these, any freshly cut/green branch.
(D) The prayer for the dead
291. It is an obligation under the conditions of sufficiency (wojub kifa’ī) to perform prayer for every dead Muslim (salat al-Meyyit), even if it is only a skeleton, whether the deceased was an adult or young personof more than six years of age, or if they had learned and understood the meaning of prayer before this age; but is only recommended for someone below that age. It is not recommended for the miscarried fetus or the stillborn child. As for the incomplete body, if it has a torso, or if only the torso exists, the prayer is still obligatory, otherwise not, even if there is some bone in the remains.
292. Certain things have to be done when praying for the dead:
1- The body should be put on its back, so that the head is on the right of the person(s) praying and the legs to his (their) left.
2- The corpse should be in front of the praying person(s) and near to him (them), and there should be no big gap between them except when people are praying behind an imam (if the prayer is congregational) and the line is very long (if it kept as one line only).
3- The dead person must be present in front of the praying person(s); prayer for the absent is not valid.
4- There must be nothing like a wall, screen, curtain or the like between the praying person(s) and the dead, but this does not apply if the corpse is inside a coffin, even if locked.
5- Neither the praying person(s) nor the body should be higher than the other by a large distance.
6- The dead person being prayed for must be a specific person known in a way that cannot be confused with another, although it is not a condition to know his/her name, or even whether the body is male or female; in the latter case the pronouns in the prayer can still be appropriate, since the word meyyit (Arabic for ‘dead’) is masculine, and the word janazeh (Arabic for ‘corpse’) is feminine.
7- All considerations in the daily prayers should be observed in the prayers for the dead, such as the intention of qorbah; facing the Ka’bah; standing still; the mowalat (succession) between the several takbir (saying ‘Allahu Akbar’, God is the Greatest), proclamations and the supplications; the abstention from talking during prayers, or laughing loudly or turning away from the qiblah (the direction of the Ka’bah); and also the order, as will be explained. However, it is not a condition that the clothes of the praying person(s) should be free (mubah), nor the place, or to cover the private parts, or to insist on purity from khabath in dress and body, or purity from both small or big occurrences (Hadath, asghar and akbar), or that the prayer are conducted by men; so it is acceptable for a woman to carry out the prayer for a man. But if the prayer is congregational, the rulings of congregational prayers apply.
8- The prayer should be offered after the washing, takfeen and tahneet.
293. It is allowed that more than one person offer the prayer separately for a single dead person at the same time; and it is also allowed to carry out more than one set of congregational prayers at the same time. It is recommended that the prayer is performed as a congregation, in which case the conditions that apply to the leader of prayer (the imam), suchas being just, must be observed, as well as the conditions that apply to congregations, such as the lack of a separating wall or the like; and if the conditions of congregational prayers are not met, the obligation to offer it as a congregational prayer no longer exists, even if the reward of the congregation will not be achieved. In this prayer, the people should not rely on the leader’s supplication, but they themselves must recite the supplications specific to the prayers for the dead.
294. If there are more than one dead person, it is allowed to offer one set of prayers for two or more, making the pronoun in the supplications dual (mothenna) or plural (jem‘) as appropriate.
295. A person can join a congregational prayer for the dead at any one of the five takbirs, but he has to recite what is specified for his part, not simply follow from where the imam has reached, and when the prayer ends he must stay to complete the prayers, as long as the corpse is in front of him; but if they do not let him finish (i.e. start to lift it up), he should perform the rest of tekbeer only, leaving out the recitals.
296. If it is found that the prayer was void, it must be repeated even if after the burial, in which case the prayer should be offered at the grave. The same applies if the dead person is buried without prayer, regardless of the time that has elapsed, unless it is certain that the corpse has disintegrated, in which case prayer is no longer obligatory.
297. There is no specific way in which to position the bodies if there are several to be prayed for, as long as the necessary conditions are met; and it does not matter if some of them are somewhat distant from the praying person(s), as long as they (the corpses) are placed one beside the other. It is best to place them so that the head of the second corpse is beside the middle part of the first, and so on, like steps.
298. It is acceptable to repeat the prayers for the dead as a recommended deed (mustahabb), even if after the burial, if the dead person was gracious, religiously speaking, and if one day and night have not yet elapsed, otherwise it is not recommended (maekruh).
299. It is allowed that the prayer is offered in only the obligatory (brief) form, or to offer it in its long form, which is better. The long form is as follows:
The praying person proclaims that he will pray - or has the intention (in his/her mind) of praying - for this dead person in compliance of God’s commands:
‘Newaitu an osalli ‘ala hatha al-Meyyit qorbeten ila-Allah te‘ala’ (I intend to pray for this dead person, seeking the nearness to God, the Most High.),
then he/she starts the prayers saying:
‘Allaho akbar.’
(God is the greatest.)
‘Ashhado an la ilaha illa-Allah, wahdahu la sharika leh, ilahen wahiden ahaden samadan ferdan hayyan qayyuman da’iman abadan, wa ashhado anna Mohammadan ‘abdohu wa resuloh, arsalahu bil-Hoda wa dīn al-Haqq liyothhirahu ‘ala-Ddini kollih walaw kerihal-Moshrikun.’
(I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, the one only without any other God with Him, the Living, the Eternal One, Ever-Living, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, He has sent him with the guidance and the Faith of Truth so that He may exalt it above all religions, much as the pagans may dislike it.)
‘Allaho akbar.’
(God is the greatest.)
‘Allahomma salli ‘ala Mohammadin wa ali Mohammad, wa barik ‘ala Mohammadin wa ali Mohammad, werham Mohammaden wa ala Mohammad, afdala ma sallayta wa barekta wa terahamta ‘ala Ibrahīma wa ali Ibrahīma, inneka samīdon majid, wa salli ‘ala jami‘ al-Anbiya’i wel-Morsalin.’
(O God, bring Your prayers (i.e. blessings) on Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad, and bless Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad, and be merciful to Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad, with Your best prayer, blessings and mercy that You bestowed upon Abraham and the progeny of Abraham, You are worthy of praise and Glorious, and bestow Your blessings to all the prophets and messengers.)
‘Allaho akbar.’
(God is the greatest.)
‘Allahomma ighfir lil-Mo’mineen wel-Mo’minat, wel-Moslimeen wel-Moslimat, al-Ahya’ minhom wal-Amwat, tabi‘-illahomma baynana wa baynahom bil-Khayrat, inneka ‘ala kolli shay’in qadīr.’
(O God, forgive the male and female believers, and the male and female Muslims, the living and the dead of them, and make us, O God, good successors to them with Your goodness, You have power over all things.)
‘Allaho akbar.’
(God is the greatest.)
‘Allahomma inna hathal-Mosajja qoddamena ‘abdoka wabno ‘abdika wabno amatika, nezala bik wa anta khayro menzulin bih, allahomma inneka qabadta ruhehu ilayka, waqad ihtaja ila rahmatik, wa anta ghaniyyon ‘an ‘athabih; allahomma inna la na‘lamo minho illah khayran, wa anta a‘lemo bihī minna, allahomma in kana mohsinan fezid fī ihsanih, wa in kana mosi’an fetejawaz ‘an sayyi’atih, weghfir lena weleho; allahomma ohshorhu ma‘a men yatawellaho wa yohibboho, wa ab‘idho mimmen yatabara‘u minhu wa yebghedohu, allahomma alhiqhu binabiyyika wa ‘arrif baynehu wa bayneh, warhemna itha tawaffaytena ya ilahal-‘ Alamīn; allahomma oktobhu ‘indaka fi a‘la ‘illiyīn, wekhlof ‘ala ‘aqibihi fil-Ghabirīn, waj‘alhu min rofeqa’i Mohammadin wa alihi-tahireen, werhamhu wa iyyana birahmetika ya arhamar-Rahimeen.’
(O God, this person laid in front of us is Your servant and son of Your (male) servant and (female) servant, he has come onto You and You are the best one to come to, O God, You have taken his soul to You, and he is in need of Your mercy, and You do not need to torment him, O God; we know only good things about him, and You know him better than we, O God, if he was doing good, increase your bounties to him, and if he was doing bad, forgive his bad deeds, and forgive him and us; O God, bring him on the Day of Judgement with whomever he supported and loved, and take him away from whomever he disowned and hated; O God, make him join Your Prophet and make the two of them acquainted with each other, and bring Your mercy on us when You take our souls, O the God of all things; O God, let it be written that he is to be placed in the highest place (in paradise), and be the one looking after his offspring and those he leaves behind, and make him a companion of Muhammad and his pure progeny, and be merciful to him and to us, we are asking You by Your mercy O You are the most merciful of all.)
‘Allaho akbar.’
(God is the greatest.)
And the prayer ends.
The obligatory brief version is:
‘Allaho akbar; Ashhado an la ilaha illa-Allah, wa ashhado anna Mohammaden resulo Allah.’
‘Allaho akbar; Allahomma salli ‘ala Mohammadin wa ali Mohammad.’
‘Allaho akbar; Allahomma ighfir lil-Mo’mineen wel-mo’minat.’
‘Allaho akbar; Allahomma ighfir lihathal-Meyyit.’
‘Allaho akbar.’
It is better to say after finishing the prayer: ‘Rebbana atina fid-Dunya heseneten wa fil- Akhirati hassanetan wa qina ‘athaban-Nar.’
(Lord give us what is good both in this world and in the hereafter and keep us from the torment of the Fire.)
And if the dead person is female, the person praying should say after the fourth tekbeerah: ‘Allahomma inna hathihil-Mosejjat qoddamena amatoka wabneto ‘abdika wabneto ametika etc’ and make the rest of the pronouns feminine as appropriate.
300. In the prayer for the dead, there is no athan or iqameh (the call and shorter call to prayer), but it is recommended to call it by saying: ‘As-salat, as-salat, as-salat’, i.e. ‘prayer’ three times.
301. It is obligatory to recite the obligatory parts of the prayer in Arabic, but reading in Arabic is also better in the other, recommended parts.
302. If the person praying doubts the number of takbir he has reached, he should decide on the least; however, if he has reached the third takbir, for example, and becomes doubtful regarding whether he did attend to the first or not, he should disregard his doubt as long as the doubt assailed him after finishing it.
303. It is recommended that the person praying is pure from al-hadath al-Akbar or al-Asghar, even if by tayammom, and that the leader of the congregation should recite the takbir and supplications loudly (jahr), but those praying behind him should recite in a whisper (ikhfat), and they should make a lot of supplication for the dead in the fourth takbireh, as well as for the believers in the third takbireh.
(E) The burial
304. It is an obligation under the conditions of sufficiency (wojub kifa’i) to bury a dead Muslim, i.e. to place him in the ground so as to protect his body from wild animals and to protect people from the smell (of the disintegrating body); so it is not sufficient to place the dead in a coffin or building over the ground, even if the above aims are met, except when it is not possible to bury them underground. And it is not a condition to place them in soil, but rather it is allowed to place them underground inside a coffin or the like.
305. It is obligatory to place a dead person in his/her grave on his/her right side, facing the qiblah (the direction of the Ka’bah) with the face and the whole of the body, regardless as to whether the body is complete or deficient, such as a body without a head or vice versa, or if only the torso exists on its own; in fact this applies to every part in which this direction is possible. If the body was not placed in that direction, it continues to be obligatory even if after burial, in which case it must be exhumed and placed as appropriate, unless this would entail dishonouring the dead, in which case the obligation no longer exists.
306. If a non-Muslim woman dies and with her dies an embryo fathered by a Muslim, it is an obligation to place her in the grave with her back in the direction of the qiblah so that the face of the embryo faces the qiblah; this is even if the soul (ruh) had not entered it.
307. If a Muslim dies on board a ship at sea, if it is possible to delay the burial until they reach land, then it must be delayed; otherwise it is an obligation to carry out the washing, tahneet, takfeen and prayer, then to place the body in a large barrel/vessel or any coffin-like container, seal it very well, and then throw it into the sea. But if such a container is not available, a heavy object should be fastened to the body before throwing it into the sea.
308. If the direction of the qiblah is not certain, the body should be directed according to its most probable direction, so if one direction seems more probable, the dead must be directed towards it. Otherwise the direction condition no longer applies, provided that it is not possible to delay the burial to ascertain the direction.
309. It is not allowed to bury a Muslim in a non-Muslim cemetery, nor the non-Muslim in a Muslim cemetery, except in compelling circumstances. Also, burial is not allowed in locations where it would dishonour the dead, such as rubbish dumps, sewage systems and the like, nor in misappropriated places, or places that are specifically dedicated (mawquf) to things other than burials, such as mosques or Hussayniyyahs, even if their guardian grants permission.
310. To face the (eventual) situation of burying dead Muslims in non-Muslim cemeteries, as in countries of expatriation, it is an obligation under the conditions of sufficiency (wojub kifa’ī) on believers to strive to secure a cemetery exclusively for Muslims.
311. It is not forbidden to bury a dead person in the grave of another even before its disintegration, although it is recommended not to do it (makruh). But it is forbidden to dig up the grave and uncover the corpse before its disintegration. If someone disobeyed this and exhumed the grave, or if the body was disinterred as a result of a natural accident, in this case it is allowed to bury the other dead person here, although the precaution to abstain from doing this should not be ignored. As for the burial of two dead persons in one grave at the outset, it is recommended to abstain from doing it (makruh).
312. If the dead person has asked (in his will) to be buried in certain sacred tombs, or in his home country, and this is not possible until after a period of time, it is not allowed to place him above ground and build a temporary tomb while waiting; rather, the obligation is to bury him under the ground, even if inside a locked box like a coffin. His body can later be taken out in order to bury him in the place he wanted, provided that this does not involve dishonouring his sanctity; if would involve that, those conducting the relocation must wait until the danger of such dishonour disappears before transferring him to the place he wanted.
313. It is not allowed to exhume a grave except in the following situations:
1- If the burial was performed in a place that was misappropriated as a result of aggression, ignorance or forgetfulness, and the owner will not allow the body to remain on his land; as well as if the coffin was misappropriated, or that misappropriated money was buried with it, or his money that is supposed to be transferred to his heirs.
2- If the burial was carried out without washing or shrouding, or if it is discovered that these were done incorrectly. However, digging up the grave is allowed only if no dishonour or harm to the dignity of the dead person would be done. The same goes for the situation in which the dead person was not placed in the direction of the qiblah.
3- If it is only through seeing/examining the body that a right is proved, or if it brings protection from a serious harm (mafsadah) or achieves a reasonable outcome (maslahah), or in order to solve the crime to which the dead was subject, or for any such things which relate to proving a right or a claim so that legal consequences follow.
4- If the exhumation is in the interests of the dead person, such as if he was buried in a place that brings him dishonour, like a rubbish dump, or a place in which there is fear for the body from a flood, wild animals or enemies. And it is allowed to exhume the body if it might be subject to such things in the future.
5- To transfer the body to the place where in his will he asked to be buried, or if the guardian grants permission if the burial in the current place is not according to the will or has not been granted the guardian’s permission
314. For the burial, it is recommended to dig the grave to a depth equal to a man’s height or up to the shoulders; or in hard ground to make a lahd (an excavation), in the direction of the qiblah, of an area that can be sat in. In soft ground a cut should be made in the middle of the grave, similar to a river, then the body should be placed in it, covered over like a ceiling, and then the soil should be heaped up over the grave. It is also recommended that the grave is covered with a dress when a woman is being entered. Also recommended is to recite the specific supplications etc when handling the body and when placing it in the lahd, and that the person who is doing this should be barefooted, with the buttons on his clothes unfastened, and without any head cover. And when the body is placed in the grave, the coffin nodes beside the head should be unfastened, to uncover his/her face, so the cheek can be placed the ground on a pillow of sand. In addition, it is recommended that soil from the soil of Imam Hussein (as) is placed in the grave, and to recite – as a way of reminding and encouraging him/her – the two shahadah, i.e. the oneness of God and the message of Muhammad (sawa), and the correct fundamentals. Then to close the lahd, the person carrying out these duties should leave the grave from the feet end and the persons present – not the relatives – should heap over the soil using the outer parts of their hands and other things that are mentioned in the specialised books.
315. The scholars have mentioned that it is recommended for the deceased’s next of kin to inform the believers about the death of the believer, so that they attend the funeral and walk behind his coffin, and perform the prayer for him and ask for God’s forgiveness of him; it is recommended that the believers should not delay in this. There is no limit to the extent to which the ceremony for the dead might be accompanied, but it is better to continue to the burial place, and at the least until the congregational prayer for the deceased; there are a lot of narrations encouraging that.
316. During the ceremony it is makruh (recommended not), to laugh or play, or to talk in anything other than thikr (God’s praise), supplication, asking forgiveness, or to walk too quickly in a way that is not respectful to the dead; in fact the walking should be at a moderate speed.
(F) Washing after touching the dead
317. It is obligatory to wash after touching the body of a dead person– including a miscarried fetus into which the soul had entered – if the touching took place after the corpse had become cold and before washing it as appropriate.
318. It is obligatory to wash after touching any amputated organ that contains flesh and bone, but not (if only) flesh on its own is present, or bone on its own, even if it is a complete skeleton, although the precaution of washing from touching the mere bone is good/better.
319. There is no difference if the touching that took place is intentional or otherwise, or if the touching or the touched organs were internal or external. However, this excludes touching by the hair, touching the hair of the dead by the face or hand, or touching the hair of the dead by the hair of the living, as all these do not need washing.
320. It is not obligatory to wash when touching the corpse of the martyr who is to be buried without washing, nor the one killed as a (Islamic legal) punishment if he/she washed before his/her execution. The same applies, i.e. no washing, to touching a dead person who had tayammom instead of washing, or one who had the first two washes, or one of them, carried out with pure water because of lack of sidr or camphor; but it is good in the last two cases, as a precaution, to wash after touching, with the intention of matlubiyyeh (requirement) and then to perform ablution afterwards.
321. It is not obligatory to wash after touching the clothes of the dead, or their remains such as blood, sweat, urine or the like; but it is obligatory to purify the hand of such remains if spreading wetness is present. Parts such as the hand or dress will not become impure when touching the body of the dead before washing if spreading wetness is not present, although it is better to purify.
322. If a person doubts whether the touching occurred before or after the body became cold, or if the touching was to the body or the clothes or the hair, washing is not obligatory; however, if a person knows that he did touch the body of a dead person after it became cold, but he doubts whether this was before or after washing the dead, in this case he has to wash.
323. It is forbidden for a person under Hadath - in touching the dead, and before washing it - every act that is forbidden when one is under al-Hadath al-Asghar before ablution, and the things that are allowed there are allowed here; so they are not different except that the former has to wash after the touch, for it is one of the things for which washing is obligatory. How to perform the wash is the same as for the rest of washes that have been mentioned, including the fact that it excludes the need for ablution.