Chapter on the Shroud

ʿĀʾishah ⦗Allah be pleased with her⦘ reported: “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was shrouded in three Yemeni white saḥūlī garments; there was no shirt and no turban among them.”

Unfamiliar terms
• “Yemeni garments”: cloth woven in Yemen, hence the attribution; in the most eloquent usage the yāʾ is pronounced openly.
• saḥūlī: brilliantly white cloth, always of cotton. The word may derive from saḥl (whiteness and purity) or from the launderer who whitens the fabric, while some hold it is the name of a village in Yemen.

Overall meaning
Covering the deceased is more sacrosanct and deserves greater care than covering the living. For that reason the Prophet ﷺ was wrapped in three pure white sheets, without a shirt or a turban.

Points derived from the ḥadith
1 – The Prophet ﷺ was shrouded in three cloths, with neither shirt nor turban. Al-Nawawī said: “It means he was not shrouded in a shirt or a turban, but only in three other cloths; nothing else accompanied the three.” Al-Shāfiʿī explained it likewise.
2 – It is recommended that the shroud be white and clean.
3 – This is the most complete manner of shrouding, for Allah guided the Companions to what He desired for His Prophet, and they also knew it from his sunna.
4 – The ḥadith shows that adding more than a single sheet to the shroud is permissible even if an heir or a creditor objects.

Benefit
The preferred shroud for a man is three sheets, while for a woman it is five pieces: a waist-wrapper, a head-cover, a shirt, and two outer sheets. The obligatory minimum is that the entire body of the deceased be covered.