Book of Funerals

It is recommended to make ready for death, to visit the sick, and to remind the patient to repent and to draw up a bequest.

When the end approaches, his throat should be moistened with water or another drink, his lips dampened, and he is prompted with the words lā ilāha illā Allāh once—no more than three times if he does not respond. Sūrah Yā Sīn is recited at his bedside, and he is oriented toward the qiblah.

Once he has died, the Sunnah is to close his eyes, bind his jaw, loosen his joints, remove his clothes, place him on the washing platform facing the qiblah and cover him with a cloth, lay a piece of iron on his stomach, hasten his preparation, and carry out his will; the payment of any debts, however, is obligatory.

Section
On Washing the Deceased

Washing the body, shrouding it, performing the funeral prayer, carrying it, and burying it are a collective obligation (farḍ kifāyah).

The person most entitled to wash him is his appointed executor, then his father, then his grandfather, followed by male relatives in order of closeness. For a female, her executrix has priority, then her mother, her grandmother, and then her nearest female relatives in turn. Each spouse may wash the other, and a master may wash his female slave. Both men and women may wash a child under seven years of age. If no qualified washer is present, the body is given tayammum (dry ablution).

When the washing begins, the deceased’s private parts are covered; he is undressed and screened from view. The washer gently raises his head to a near-sitting posture, lightly presses his abdomen, and incense should be burning (1). He then uses it plentifully