The minimum required shroud is a single cloth that covers the whole body. The recommended practice, however, is to wrap a man in three sheets, and a woman in five pieces: an izar (lower wrap), a khimar (head-covering), a qamis (tunic), and two outer sheets. A young boy may be shrouded in one cloth, though three are permissible, while a young girl is shrouded in a tunic and two outer sheets. It is also recommended to fumigate the shrouds with incense after sprinkling them with rosewater or the like, so that the scent of the incense lingers.

A man is enshrouded in the following manner: the three sheets are spread out, one upon the other. The deceased—whose nakedness must first be covered with a cloth—is then laid on his back upon them. Hanūt (a blended perfume) is placed on cotton between his buttocks and secured with a strip of cloth. The remaining perfumed cotton is placed on his eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, and on every place that touches the ground in prostration: the forehead, the nose, the knees, and the tips of the feet. It is also placed in the folds of the body—under the armpits, behind the knees, and over the navel—and some perfume is sprinkled between the shrouds and on the head of the deceased.

The upper edge of the first sheet is then folded from the left side over the right, and its right side over the left; the second and third sheets are folded in the same way. Any excess length should be left longer at the head than at the feet. The surplus at the head is gathered and folded back over the face, and that at the feet is gathered and folded back over the feet. Finally, the sheets are fastened with straps so that they do not come undone, and the knots are untied once the body is laid in the grave.