remains. By contrast, a black, red, or green garment—and anything similar—does not resemble white, for a stain does not show on it with the same clarity.

Then he says: “O Allah, replace his home with a home better than his own,” for the deceased has left the abode of this world for the realm of the barzakh. The worldly abode, as we know, is a place of trials, harm, and vexation; hence one supplicates, “Replace his home with a better home,” so that he may enjoy bliss in his grave; “and a family better than his family”—that is, relatives such as his mother, maternal aunt, daughters, father, son, and the like; “and a spouse better than his spouse,” meaning a wife superior to his worldly wife, whether from among the ḥūr al-ʿīn (heavenly maidens) or his very wife from this life, for if a man marries a woman in this world and she dies upon faith, she will be his wife in the Hereafter. Should someone ask, “How can she be better than my wife when she is the same woman I had in this life?” we reply, “She will surpass her present self in qualities, beauty, and every other aspect.”

“Admit him into Paradise, and protect him from the torment of the grave and the torment of the Fire.” All of this forms part of the supplication one makes for the deceased, and a person ought to be wholly sincere in praying for him.

If the deceased is a woman, one says, “O Allah, forgive her, have mercy on her, grant her well-being, and pardon her,” using the feminine pronoun. If he does not know whether the deceased is male or female, he may choose: he may say, “O Allah, forgive him,” meaning this person—for a woman, too, is called a shakhṣ (person)—or he may say, “forgive her,” referring to this janazah, for the term janazah applies to both a man and a woman. And if he knows that the deceased is male