They further argued that this is part of treating one another honourably and repaying kindness with kindness, and because the bonds of marriage have not been severed.

This view is stronger. The point at issue is where the husband is financially well-off. If there is no one obliged to provide maintenance, or if such a person exists but is poor, then it is to be provided from the public treasury. If there is no properly functioning public treasury, then it is incumbent upon those Muslims who know of his situation, because it is a communal obligation.

The order of responsibility, then, is fourfold:

1. From his own estate.
2. By the one responsible for his maintenance.
3. From the public treasury.
4. By the Muslim community at large.

The public treasury of the Muslims is given precedence over the Muslim community at large because it entails no sense of favour bestowed upon the deceased. This differs from the case where it is provided by individual Muslims, for the one who gives will feel within himself that he has done the deceased a favour.

Question: If the husband dies poor while the wife is wealthy, she is not required to pay the cost of his shroud. Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him), however, held that she is required to do so.

His statement, “It is recommended to shroud a man in three white wrapping sheets”: the recommendation here does not concern shrouding itself, for shrouding itself is a communal obligation. Rather, it concerns the shroud consisting of three wrapping sheets and their being white.