Before you begin

If you are reading this because someone you love is ill, or has just passed away, we are so sorry. May Allah make it easy for you and have mercy on them.

Every soul will taste death¹. It is a return to Allah. Islam gives simple steps for this time, so the family is not lost.

• Crying is fine. When his baby son Ibrahim was dying, Nabi ﷺ cried. He said: the eyes shed tears and the heart is sad, but we only say what pleases our Lord². Islam only asks us to avoid wailing, slapping the face and tearing clothes³.
• Patience has a huge reward. The patient are given their reward without measure⁴. Allah says: when I take someone a believer loves and he is patient, his reward is nothing less than Jannah⁵. Patience does not mean no tears. It means not complaining against Allah.

Visiting the sick

Visiting someone who is sick is one of the five rights a Muslim has on another Muslim⁶.

The reward

• The visitor is in the gardens of Jannah until they come back⁷.
• Visit in the morning and 70,000 angels pray for you until evening. Visit in the evening and they pray for you until morning⁸.
• Allah will say: I was sick and you did not visit Me. My servant was sick. Had you visited him, you would have found Me with him⁹.

Good manners

• Keep it short, unless they want you to stay. Sit near them, as Nabi ﷺ sat by the head of a sick boy¹⁰.
• Give hope. Nabi ﷺ would say: la ba's, tahurun in sha Allah. No harm, it is a cleansing for you, if Allah wills¹¹.
• Say only good things. The angels say ameen to what you say¹².
• Visit non-Muslims too. That boy was Jewish¹³.

Duas for the sick

• As'alullaha al-'Azim, Rabbal 'Arshil 'Azim, an yashfiyak. I ask Allah the Great, Lord of the Great Throne, to cure you. Say it seven times¹⁴.
• Allahumma Rabban nas, adhhibil ba's, ishfi antash Shafi, la shifa'a illa shifa'uk, shifa'an la yughadiru saqama. O Allah, Lord of the people, take away the harm. Cure, You are the One who cures. There is no cure but Yours, a cure that leaves no illness¹⁵.

Remind them their pain is not wasted. Even the prick of a thorn wipes away a Muslim's sins¹⁶.

Being with someone who is dying

Be gentle, bring peace, and turn their heart to Allah.

Remind them of la ilaha illallah

• Nabi ﷺ said: remind your dying of la ilaha illallah¹⁷. This is called talqin.
• Whoever's last words are la ilaha illallah will enter Jannah¹⁸.
• Say it softly near them, so they hear it and may say it too. Scholars say do not keep telling them "say it". A tired person can feel pressured.
• If they say it once, let them rest. Remind them again only if they talk about other things after.

Help them hope in Allah's mercy

• Nabi ﷺ said: let none of you die except thinking well of Allah¹⁹.
• A dying young man told Nabi ﷺ: I hope in Allah, and I fear my sins. Nabi ﷺ said: when these two meet in a heart at such a time, Allah gives him what he hopes for and keeps him safe from what he fears²⁰.
• So talk about Allah's mercy and the good they have done, not about blame.

Other good things

• Facing the qibla: scholars recommend turning them toward the qibla (the direction of the Kaaba), on their right side or on their back with feet toward it. If moving them hurts, leave them.
• Surah Ya-Sin: many scholars recommend reading it. The report about it is weak, so others say any Quran is good. Both are a comfort.
• If they can talk, gently ask about any debts or wishes.

At the moment of death

Take a breath. Most of these steps come from what Nabi ﷺ did when Abu Salamah passed away.

• Say: inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un. We belong to Allah and to Him we return²¹.
• Close their eyes gently. Nabi ﷺ closed Abu Salamah's eyes and said: when the soul is taken, the sight follows it²².
• Make dua. Nabi ﷺ said: Allahumma-ghfir li [name], warfa' darajatahu fil mahdiyyin. O Allah, forgive him and raise his rank among the guided. And he asked Allah to make his grave wide and full of light²³.
• Say only good. The angels say ameen to what is said then²⁴.
• Close the mouth and straighten the limbs gently while the body is soft.
• Cover the whole body with a clean sheet. Nabi ﷺ was covered with a cloth when he passed away²⁵. Family may uncover the face to kiss them goodbye, as Abu Bakr kissed Nabi ﷺ²⁶.
• Hurry the preparations. Nabi ﷺ said: hurry with the funeral²⁷. Waiting a short time for close family is fine.
• Pay their debts quickly. More on this below.
• Let people know, so they can pray. Nabi ﷺ announced the death of the Najashi the same day²⁸.

Washing the body (ghusl)

Washing a Muslim who has died is a duty on the community. If some do it, the rest are free. Whoever covers the faults of a Muslim, Allah will cover his faults³⁰, so what the washers see stays private.

Who washes whom

• Men wash men, and women wash women. Best is the person they asked for, then close family who know how.
• A wife may wash her husband. All scholars agree. Aisha said: if I had known then what I know now, only his wives would have washed Nabi ﷺ³¹.
• A husband may wash his wife, say Malikis, Shafi'is and Hanbalis. Nabi ﷺ told Aisha that if she died first, he would wash her³². Hanafis say he may not. If no woman is there, she is given tayammum.
• Young children, under about seven, may be washed by men or women.
• No one of the same sex and no spouse? Most scholars say give the body tayammum instead.

How to wash, step by step

The least required: water over the whole body once. The rest is sunnah.

• 1. Prepare a private room, warm water, gloves, towels, soap or sidr (crushed lote leaves), and camphor if you have it.
• 2. Cover the awrah (navel to knees) with a cloth the whole time. Remove the clothes under it.
• 3. Clean the private parts with a gloved hand, under the cloth, without looking. Press gently on the stomach first (not for a pregnant woman).
• 4. Wudu. Nabi ﷺ said: start with the right side and the parts washed in wudu³³. Do not pour water into the mouth or nose. Wipe the teeth and nostrils with a wet cloth.
• 5. Wash the head and hair with water and sidr or soap. Then the right side, front and back, then the left.
• 6. Repeat. Nabi ﷺ said: wash her three or five times, or more if needed, with water and sidr, and put camphor in the last wash³⁴.
• 7. Dry gently with a towel. A woman's hair is braided in three braids behind her, as was done for the daughter of Nabi ﷺ³⁵. Hanafis put it in two parts over her chest.

• Be gentle. Breaking a dead person's bone is like breaking it while they are alive³⁶.
• Many scholars say do not cut their hair or nails. If something comes out after washing, most say wash that spot only.
• If the body is badly hurt, pour water without rubbing. If even that harms it, do tayammum.

The martyr

• A shahid (martyr) killed in battle for Allah is not washed. Nabi ﷺ had the martyrs of Uhud buried with their blood, in their clothes, and they were not prayed over³⁷. Hanafis say the Janazah prayer is still prayed for them.
• Some others get the reward of a martyr: those who die of plague, a stomach illness, drowning, under a falling building³⁸, by fire, and a woman who dies while pregnant³⁹. They are washed and shrouded as normal.

A baby who dies before or at birth

A Muslim whose young children die is given Jannah by Allah's mercy⁴⁰. Scholars recommend naming the baby.

• Born alive, even for a moment (a cry, a breath, a movement): washed, shrouded and prayed over like anyone else.
• Stillborn after about four months: Nabi ﷺ said the miscarried baby is prayed over, with dua for its parents⁴¹. Hanbalis wash, shroud and pray. Shafi'is and Hanafis wash and shroud, without the prayer. Malikis wrap and bury, without washing or prayer.
• Before about four months: most scholars say wrap the baby in a cloth and bury it with respect, with no washing or prayer.

Shrouding (kafan)

The kafan is the cloth the body is wrapped in. Nabi ﷺ said: when one of you shrouds his brother, let him do it well⁴². Well means clean, covering and decent, not expensive. White is best: shroud your dead in white⁴³.

How to shroud

• Lay the sheets out, one on top of the other, scented with incense if you can.
• Perfume the body, especially the places of sujud (prostration): forehead, nose, hands, knees and feet.
• Place the body on the sheets. For a woman, put on the lower wrap, shirt and head cover first.
• Fold each sheet over, one side then the other, and tie it at the head, middle and feet. The ties are undone in the grave.

A pilgrim who dies in ihram is shrouded in their ihram cloths, with no perfume and the man's head uncovered. Nabi ﷺ said such a man will be raised on the Day of Judgement saying the talbiyah⁴⁵. This is the Shafi'i and Hanbali view. Hanafis and Malikis say ihram ends at death, so the pilgrim is shrouded as normal.

A simple shroud is no shame. Mus'ab ibn Umair, a great Companion, was killed at Uhud and left only one cloak. When they covered his head, his feet showed. So Nabi ﷺ told them to cover his head and put sweet grass over his feet⁴⁶.

The will (wasiyyah) and debts

A person's wealth is used in this order: the cost of the kafan and burial, then debts, then the will, then the rest goes to the heirs. Allah says the heirs' shares come after any will or debt⁴⁷.

• Write a will now, while you are well. A Muslim with something to leave should not spend two nights without a written will⁴⁸.
• Up to one third. Nabi ﷺ told Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas: a third, and a third is a lot. Leaving your heirs rich is better than leaving them poor⁴⁹.
• No will for an heir. Allah has already set their shares⁵⁰. A will is for others: relatives who do not inherit, friends, or charity. It is also the place to ask for an Islamic burial.
• Debts come first. The soul of a believer is held by his debt until it is paid⁵¹. Once a man who owed three dinars was brought for the Janazah. Nabi ﷺ did not lead it until Abu Qatadah said: I will pay it⁵². So if the person left no money, family paying the debt is a beautiful kindness.

How the heirs share the rest will come in a later chapter on inheritance.

Common questions

My parent died in a hospital abroad. Do we bring them home or bury them there?

Many scholars say it is best to bury them where they died, quickly⁵³. After Uhud, some martyrs were carried to Madinah, and Nabi ﷺ had them taken back to be buried where they fell⁵⁴. Other scholars allow moving the body for a good reason, like no Muslim cemetery there, if it does not cause a long delay or harm the body. Ask a scholar you trust.

• Tell the hospital early you are Muslim and want a quick release.
• If the law requires an autopsy, it is not your sin. Scholars allow it then. Ask if a scan can be used instead.
• Who washes them: call the local masjid or a Muslim funeral service. A family member of the same sex, or the spouse, can join or do it.
• Papers: to move the body, you need the death certificate, the embassy and a funeral service that handles repatriation.

They died suddenly, with no talqin and no will. Is that bad for them?

No. Allah knows their whole life. You can still help them with dua, paying their debts, and charity. A man told Nabi ﷺ his mother died suddenly and asked if he could give charity for her. Nabi ﷺ said yes⁵⁵. A good child who prays for them keeps reaching them⁵⁶.

Is organ donation allowed?

Scholars differ. Some allow donating after death, with conditions, because it can save a life. Others do not, out of respect for the body. If your relative was a registered donor, ask a scholar you trust before you decide.

Our relatives are not Muslim. What then?

Non-Muslim family can visit, grieve and attend the funeral. Be kind to them. The washing is done by Muslims. If a parent who is not Muslim is dying, stay close and care for them. You may gently invite them to Islam, as Nabi ﷺ did with his uncle Abu Talib⁵⁷, without pressure. If they pass away not Muslim, you may help bury them. Nabi ﷺ told Ali to go and bury his father⁵⁸. The Janazah prayer and asking forgiveness are for Muslims. Nabi ﷺ was not allowed to ask forgiveness for his mother, but he was allowed to visit her grave⁵⁹. Loving your parent is not a sin.