and dressed him in his own shirt ⦗Bukhārī 1285; Muslim 2773⦘, the rationale being that he had most likely promised it earlier and had only delayed in handing it over.
- ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy was one of the exemplary Companions. Does his goodwill toward his father—the chief of the hypocrites—and his request for the Prophet’s ﷺ shirt in which to shroud him fall under the divine prohibition, “You will not find a people who believe in Allah and the Last Day showing affection to those who oppose Allah and His Messenger, even though they be their fathers or their sons…” (al-Mujādilah 58:22)?
The answer is that ʿAbd Allāh’s action arose from natural, instinctive filial love, a bond rooted in kinship; it is therefore not the wilāyah (alliance) the verse forbids. Allah says: “But if they strive to make you associate with Me that of which you have no knowledge, do not obey them; yet keep their company in this world with kindness” (Luqmān 31:15). Likewise, the Prophet ﷺ grieved over the death of his uncle Abū Ṭālib while he remained on disbelief, out of the affection he held for him.
-
Hadith 448 teaches the recommendation of wearing white garments during one’s lifetime and of shrouding the deceased in white cotton. The reasoning given is that “white is the best of your clothes,” which reassures a person that what he has done is the best possible course when he understands the wisdom behind the ruling. The preference for white is unanimously accepted; it was the practice of the Companions and those who followed them, and Allah would not commend anything but that which carries benefit.
-
The hadith also indicates that a close relative is obliged to provide the shroud for his deceased kin. While shrouding the dead is a communal duty (farḍ kifāyah), it is even more binding upon the relative.
-
Hadith 449, moreover, commands excellence in the shroud itself: it should be new in substance, white in color, and laid upon the deceased in the dignified manner detailed in the sharʿī procedure for shrouding.