because bloating, if it occurs, will not be prevented by placing a piece of iron upon the abdomen—unless an iron weight as heavy as a mountain were placed upon him; that would be a different matter. But if it is an ordinary piece of iron, then, when the abdomen becomes bloated, it will simply rise. Moreover, the period is not long, since the sunnah is to hasten the preparation of the deceased. In our time, there is no need for this measure: if delaying the burial is necessary, the deceased may be placed in refrigeration. When he is placed in refrigeration, he will not become bloated, because he remains cold and no bloating occurs in his abdomen.

His statement, “placing him upon his washing table, facing the qiblah and sloping toward his feet”: this is the seventh matter, namely, placing the deceased upon the washing table. That is, he should promptly be lifted from the ground so that crawling creatures do not come near him. Perhaps the jurists, may Allah have mercy on them, mentioned this because such creatures were abundant in homes in their time. For this reason, they said that he should promptly be lifted onto the washing table.

The washing table is well known, though people’s washing tables differ. Some have a solid surface—that is, they consist entirely of joined boards—while others are not solid, but consist of pieces of wood arranged side by side with gaps between them, as is common among us today.

His statement, “facing the qiblah,” means facing the direction of the qiblah, because this is preferable. However, I know of no evidence for this in the sunnah.

His statement, “sloping toward his feet,” means that his head should be higher than his feet, for two reasons:

First, so that water does not remain on the washing table. This was because the tables used to be