Chapter Four ...

Chapter Four : When a Person Becomes Deceased And Allah says in the Quoran: "Every soul must taste of Death" [21;35, 29;57] When the person has become deceased, the following 8 steps must be done: Shut the mouth and the eyes of the corpse and cover the face of the corpse. Fasten the two jaws with a strip so tightly so that the mouth does not open. Straighten both legs. Cover the corpse with a sheet or cloth. Provide light where the corpse is kept if the person has died at night.

Announce the death with the view to enable the faithful to attend the funeral. Avoid undue delay in bathing and shrouding the corpse with the Kafan. If death takes place at night, the funeral ceremonies should not be postponed for the day and vice versa. If there is any doubt about the death taking place, they should wait till they are certain about it.

[Qummi, Shaikh Abbas (1999), pg 119] Washing the Body of the Deceased It is wajib (obligatory) on every believing Muslim, (male or female depending on the sex of the deceased), to administer the bathing of the deceased Muslim , to provide Kafan if not already provided, shroud the deceased and offer prayers at the burial of the deceased. If one, or several people, perform these tasks, all others are exempt from doing so.

[Sayyid, Hadi Husayn (1988), pg.111] It is more than likely that if you are required to perform the very blessed task of bathing the body of a deceased person, it will be a person that is a relative or friend, unless this duty is part of your profession or you are in a crisis situation. It is very important that the bathing is done with a very gentle touch and recommended dua'as are recited.

It is wajib that the person who is going to administer the baths gets permission from the Heir of the deceased person before administering the baths if the administrator is not the Heir themselves. If it is impossible to get permission, the bath may be performed without the permission.