16 sunnahs and etiquettes of shrouding the deceased

Here are six hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه و آله و سلم discussing shrouding the deceased.

1.      He who shrouds the deceased earns a virtue for each hair of the latter.²

Regarding “He who shrouds the deceased”, the scholar ‘Abd al-Ra‘ūf al-Munāwī رَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْهِ writes, “This entails somebody who arranges a shroud for the deceased out of his own wealth.”¹

¹ Fatāwā Riḍawiyyah, vol. 24, p. 206

² Tārīkh Baghdad, vol. 4, p. 263

2.      Whoever shrouds the deceased, shall be dressed in the fine and weighty silk clothing of Paradise by Allah.²

3.      Whoever washes a deceased person, shrouds him, applies perfume to him, carries his funeral bier, offers his funeral salah, and hides whatever defect is seen, shall emerge from his sins like the day his mother gave birth to him.³

(In this hadith, ‘defect’ refers to that which should not be disclosed, such as the face of the deceased turning dark)

4.      Arrange good shrouds for your deceased, for they indeed meet each other in their graves and boast (they show happiness at the quality of their shrouds).⁴

5.      When any of you shrouds his brother, give them a good shroud.⁵

6.      Give your deceased white shrouds.⁶

Intention for shrouding the deceased

7.      “To please Allah and whilst thinking about the shroud I will be made to wear after my death, I will shroud the deceased according to the sunnah and to carry out an obligation.”

¹ Al-Taysīr bi-Sharḥ Jāmi‘ al-Ṣaghīr, vol. 2, p. 442

² Al-Mustadrak, vol. 1, p. 690, hadith 1380

³ Sunan Ibn Mājah, vol. 2, p. 201, hadith 1462

⁴ Musnad al-Firdaws, vol. 1, p. 98, hadith 317

⁵ Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, p. 470, hadith 943

⁶ Sunan Tirmidhī, vol. 2, p. 301, hadith 996

8.      It is farḍ kifāyah to give a shroud to the deceased.¹ This means, if anyone arranges a shroud for the deceased, all people will be absolved of responsibility. Otherwise, all who received news but did not do this will be sinners.

Sunnah shroud

9.      For men:

·         Lifāfah - a sheet,

·         Izār - lower garment,

·         Qamīṣ - upper garment.

For women, along with these three there are a further two: aurhnī and sīna-band.²

10.  The non-pubescent child who has reached the age at which they begin feeling sexual desires³ has the same ruling apply to them regarding shrouding as an adult. For his/her shroud, as many cloths should be used as an adult is given. A single cloth can be arranged for a boy smaller than this, and two cloths can be arranged for a girl smaller than this. It is good if two cloths are also arranged for a boy, and it is better to arrange a complete shroud for both, even if a child has lived only a day.⁴

¹ Bahār-i-Sharīat, vol. 1, p. 817

² Fatāwā Hindiyya, vol. 1, p. 160

³ The indication of sexual desire in a boy means he feels desire for women, whilst for a girl it is when men see her and develop attraction. The estimated age for this is 12 for a boy and 9 for a girl according to the Islamic calendar.

⁴ Bahār-e-Sharīat, vol. 1, p. 819

11.  Only Islamic scholars and spiritual guides can be buried with an ‘imāmah. Burying the bodies of ordinary people with an ‘imāmah is forbidden.¹

12.  It is not permissible to put such fragrance on a male body in which saffron is mixed, but it is permissible to put such fragrance on a female body.²

13.  If a person wears iḥrām (and dies in the same state), fragrance should be put on him, and his face and head should also be covered with a shroud.³

Details regarding shrouds

14.  Lifāfah: larger than the height of the deceased so that it can be tied from both ends.

Izār/tehband: this should be from top of the head to the feet. It is smaller than the lifāfah by the portion used for tying the latter.

Qamīṣ/kafanī: this is from the neck to below the knees. It should be equal at the front and back and should not contain sleeves or cuts.

There is a difference between the kafanī of a man and a woman; cut the kafanī of a man upon the shoulders and that of a woman towards the chest.

Aurhnī: this should be a yard and a half long.

¹ Madanī Waṣiat Nāma, p. 4

² Bahār-i-Sharīat, vol. 1, p. 861

³ Ibid

Sīna-band: this should be from the chest to the navel, and down to the thighs is better.¹ Usually, a ready-made shroud is bought. These may not be according to the sunnah in terms of the height of the deceased. It may also be too long, leading to wastage of material.

Caution can be exercised by cutting a shroud from a roll of cloth, as per the requirement. If you must buy a ready-made shroud, keep the surplus cloth with you after cutting. If the shroud is bought out of the wealth of the deceased, the extra cloth will be divided amongst inheritors.

15.  The shroud should be of good quality. In terms of price, it should equal the price of clothing the man used to wear for the two Eids and Friday salah. As for women, it should equal the price of clothing she would wear to visit her parents’ home.²

Method of shrouding the deceased

16.  After bathing the deceased, wipe the body gently with a clean cloth so the shroud does not get wet. Infuse the shroud with the smoke of incense sticks one, three, five or seven times. Do not exceed seven times.

First place down the lifāfah, the tehband on top of this, and the kafanī over this. Lay the deceased upon these and put the kafanī upon him. Then apply fragrance to the head, beard (if he has no beard, apply it to the chin), and entire body. Apply camphor to the body parts upon which a person performs prostration, i.e. forehead, nose, hands, knees, and feet.

¹ Bahār-i-Sharīat, vol. 1, p. 818, summarized

 ² Ibid

Proceed to fold the izār from the left side first, and then the right. Fold the lifāfah in the same way, so that the right portion remains on top. Tie the shroud at the top and bottom, as this will ensure it does not open.

After putting a kafanī upon a woman, her hair should be divided into two parts and placed on her chest upon the kafanī itself. The aurhnī should be laid out halfway down her back, folded over her head, and positioned upon the face like a niqāb, allowing it to remain over her chest. In length, it should cover from her mid-back to the chest, whilst it should go from one earlobe to the other in width.

The izār and lifāfah should then be folded as normal. The sīna-band should be tied on top from the chest to the thighs.¹

¹ Refer to Bahār-i-Sharīat’s first volume to learn more.