194—Preparing the deceased—by washing him1, shrouding him, performing the funeral prayer over him, carrying him, and burying him—is a communal obligation.
195—The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “Hasten with the funeral procession. If the deceased was righteous, you are advancing them toward something good; otherwise, it is an evil you are removing from your shoulders.”2
196—He also said: “The believer’s soul remains suspended because of his debt until it is settled on his behalf.” Narrated by Ahmad and al-Tirmidhī3.
197—The minimum required shroud is a cloth that covers the deceased’s entire body, except the head of a male pilgrim in ihram and the face of a female pilgrim in ihram4.
198—The manner of performing the funeral prayer over the deceased is as follows:
(1) B and T read: “such as washing him.”
(2) Recorded by al-Bukhārī (3/182) and Muslim (944).
(3) Recorded by Ahmad (2/440, 475, 508), al-Tirmidhī (1078, 1079), Ibn Mājah (2413), al-Dārimī (2/262), and al-Hākim, who said: “It is authentic according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs.”
(4) The shaykh states in *Nūr al-Basāir*, p. 22: “The deceased should be washed by someone knowledgeable about the rulings of washing and worthy of trust. After being washed, a man should be shrouded in three white sheets, each wrapped around him in turn. The *hanūt* (perfumed burial mixture) should be applied to his bodily openings and places of prostration, and between the layers of his shroud. A woman should be shrouded in a waist-wrapper, an upper wrap, a head-covering, and two wrapping sheets.”