After removing whatever filth lies beneath the body, the washer proceeds as previously described. He then rinses the corpse with plain water—cold if he wishes, warm if he wishes—followed by a third wash in the same manner, adding camphor to that final rinse if possible. The minimum that fulfils the requirement is to bathe the deceased in the same way one performs the ritual bath for major impurity; there is no set upper limit beyond that. If no water is available, the deceased is given tayammum (dry ablution).

There is no objection to perfuming the body with musk or ambergris. The aromatic paste is placed along the hair parting, on the joints, and inside the shroud, not on the outer surface; the intention is to scent the places of prostration.

A wife may wash her husband, and a husband may wash his wife—as was done by Asmāʾ bint ʿUmays for Abū Bakr and by ʿAlī for Fāṭimah. However, if he has issued her an irrevocable divorce, neither of them washes the other, whether or not she is still in her waiting period.

Mālik held two opinions concerning a woman divorced with a revocable divorce; one report from him states that each of them should wash the other