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January, 2007
The Uganda
Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) which
had warned Muslims not to wash bodies
of people who die in areas suspected
to have Ebola made a formal request to
EsinIslam.com
to provide Islamic teachings regarding
washing of African Muslim corpses
during this unfortunate epidemic.
In providing
Islamic perspectives as a measure to
help stemming the spread of the deadly
Ebola haemorrhagic fever outbreak in
Bundibugyo district, EsinIslam.com
congratulates the responsible
officials of the Uganda Muslim Supreme
Council (UMSC) for turning to our
Sheikh Abu Abdullah Adelabu in their
abilities to seek better and true enlightenment
for the Ugandan public.
The disease is
spread through contact with body
fluids of an infected person.
The Ministry of
Health put the death toll by yesterday
at 29 in Bundibugyo and 113 infected.
The move by UMSC followed a request by
the Ministry of Health to suspend
their religious ritual.
UMSC spokesman
Hajji Nsereko Mutumba said: "Much
as the Koran tells us to bury bodies
which are clean, it discourages people
from committing suicide. Washing an
Ebola victim would mean one is
committing suicide."
He asked Muslims
in Ebola areas to stop sharing
containers in which they carry water
for ablution before they pray.
The Uganda Red
Cross said its team of 100 health
workers was monitoring 435 people in
Bundibugyo who had contact with
victims of Ebola. The Red Cross has
also equipped the World Health
Organisation and the health ministry
with communication handsets.
Who
is to be Washed and Who is Not
The body of a deceased Muslim, other
than one killed in a battlefield by
the infidels, should be washed.
Islam recognizes
death as a form of rest. Bukhari and
Muslim reported from Abu Qatadah that
once, when the Prophet passed by a
funeral, he said: "He is (now) in
peace secure from others and others
are in peace secure from him."
The people asked: "O Allah's
Messenger! Who is in peace and from
whom are others in peace?" He
said: "A believing servant (of
Allah) is relieved from afflictions of
this world upon his death, while upon
the death of a wicked person, other
people, land, trees, and animals are
rid of his evil."
In Islam only the body of a martyr,
that is, a Muslim killed in a battle
at the hands of disbelievers, may not
be washed even though it is in a state
of major ritual impurity. His body
should be enshrouded in the clothes he
wore when he died if they are good
enough for the purpose. Otherwise some
additional cloth may be used to
enshroud his body according to the
sunnah. The body of such a person
should be buried in its blood-stained
state. None of his blood should be
washed off.
Ahmad reported: "The Prophet,
peace be upon him, said: "Do not
wash those who die as martyrs, for
their every wound or drop of blood
will exude a fragrance like musk on
the Day of Judgement." The
Prophet, peace be upon him, ordered
the martyrs of the Battle of Uhud to
be buried in their bloodstained
clothes. They were not washed, nor any
funeral prayer offered for them.
It is said that the wisdom behind not
offering a funeral prayer on a martyr
is that it is offered for a dead
person, whereas a martyr is not dead
but alive. Another reason may be that
since prayer is a kind of
intercession, the martyrs do not need
it. In fact they will intercede for
others.
The Martyrs whose Bodies must be
Washed and for whom Funeral Prayer
must be Performed
Those who are not killed in a battle
by disbelievers, though they may be
regarded as martyrs in Islamic law,
should be washed and funeral prayer
said for them.
The bodies of such martyrs, during the
Prophet's time, were washed. Later on
Muslims, during the days of 'Umar, 'Uthman,
and 'Ali, continued this practice
(washing the bodies of such martyrs).
We give below details about these
martyrs.
Jabir ibn 'Utaik reported that Allah's
Messenger said: "There are seven
kinds of martyrs besides those killed
in the cause of Allah:
-1- a person who is killed in an
epidemic,
-2- a person who is drowned,
-3- a person who has bed sores that
cause fever and a bad cough resulting
in his death,
-4- a person who dies of a stomach
disease,
-5- a person who dies in a fire,
-6- a person who dies under falling
debris (in a disaster), and
-7- a woman who dies during
childbirth." Ahmad, Abu Daw'ud
and Nasa'i report this hadith based on
sound authority.
Abu Hurairah reported that Allah's
Messenger, peace be upon him, asked:
"Who do you consider to be a
martyr?" They said: "O
Allah's Prophet, he who is killed
fighting for the cause of Allah."
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"(If this is so) then very few in
my community will be martyrs! "
They asked: "Who else are they, O
Allah's Messenger?" He said:
"He who is killed fighting for
Allah's cause is a martyr, he who dies
in the cause of Allah is a martyr, he
who dies in an epidemic is a martyr,
he who dies from a stomach disease is
a martyr, and the one who dies of
drowning is (also) a martyr."
This hadith is narrated by Muslim.
Sa'id ibn Zaid reported that the
Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
"He who is killed while guarding
his property is a martyr, he who is
killed while defending himself is a
martyr, and he who is killed defending
his religion is a martyr, and he who
dies protecting his family is (also) a
martyr." This hadith is narrated
by Ahmad and Tirmizhi. The latter
considers it a sound hadith.
A Disbeliever is not
to be Washed
It is not necessary for a Muslim to
wash a disbeliever's body. Some
scholars, however, consider it
permissible. According to the Maliki
and Hanbali schools, a Muslim may not
wash a disbeliever' s body even if he
is one of his near of kin. Similarly a
Muslim is not permitted to shroud him
or bury him unless it is feared that
the body would decompose because of
weather conditions, or that it would
attract predatory beasts, etc. In such
a case, he may be buried in a hole and
covered with dust. This opinion is
based on a tradition transmitted by
Ahmad, Abu Daw'ud, Nasa'i and Al-Baihaqi
on the authority of Ali who said:
"I said to Allah's Messenger
'Your uncle, the old misguided man,
has passed away. ' The Prophet, peace
be upon him, said: 'Go and bury your
father and do not do anything else
until you return to me'." ' Ali
said: "I did as he had told me
and went back to him. The Prophet,
peace be upon him, ordered me to take
a bath, and then he prayed for
me."
Ibn al-Munzhir says there is nothing
specific reported from the Prophet,
peace be upon him, about the procedure
of washing the dead body.
Transferring the
Body from One Place to Another
The Ash-Shafi'i school considers it
unlawful to transfer the body of a
deceased from one country or town to
another unless it is to Makkah,
Madinah or Jerusalem. It is
permissible to remove the body to one
of these cities because of their
special significance and position.If
someone leaves instructions in his or
her will that he or she be buried in a
place other than these three cities,
the will may not be executed, because
it could delay the burial and cause
the body to deteriorate. Likewise
transferring the body from one grave
to another is prohibited unless there
is a valid reason for doing so, for
example, if the deceased was buried
without a proper wash, or was buried
without tuming the deceased's face
toward the qiblah, or the grave was
damaged by flood or dampness.
It is stated in Al-Minhaj that digging
up a grave after burial either for
removing the body or for any other
reason is prohibited unless there is
genuine reason for it. such as when a
deceased person is buried without a
wash or is buried in a usurped cloth
or land or something of value is left
in the grave or the deceased was
buried without facing the qiblah.
The Maliki school holds it permissible
to remove the body from one place to
another, before or after the burial,
for a genuine reason, for example,
when it is feared that the body of a
deceased may be drowned in the sea or
eaten up by wild animals, or when
relatives want to bury the deceased
nearby so that they may visit it more
easily, or in order to seek the
blessings of the place to which the
body is removed. In all such cases,
transferring of the body from one
place to another is permissible
provided its sanctity is not affected,
e.g., it does not bloat, does not
decompose or its bones do not break.
The Hanafi school considers the
removal of a body from one place to
another undesirable, and holds it
preferable to bury a person at the
place of death. The body may be taken
for a mile or two for burial, for that
is the usual distance to a cemetery.
After the burial removing the body
without a genuine reason is not
permissible as mentioned above. If a
woman's son dies and he is buried in
her absence in another town, and she
was impatient and wanted to remove his
body to her own town, her request may
not be heeded.
The Hanbali school considers it
desirable to bury a martyr at the
place where he or she is killed. Ahmad
said, "As to those who are slain,
a hadith reported by Jabir from the
Prophet, peace be upon him, says:
'Bury the martyrs wherever they are
killed'." Ibn Majah reported:
"The Prophet, peace be upon him,
ordered that the martyrs of the Battle
of Uhud be returned and buried at the
places where they had fallen." As
for the others, they are not to be
removed from one town to another
without a valid cause. This is the
opinion of AlAwza'i and Ibn al-Munzhir.
Abdallah ibn Malikah said: "Abd-ur
Rahman ibn Abu Bakr died in Abyssinia
and his body was carried to Makkah
where he was buried. When 'Aishah
visited his grave she said: 'By Allah!
Had I been there when you died, I
would not have allowed you to be
buried anywhere except at the place
where you had died. And had I seen you
there, I would not have visited
you'." Burying the deceased at
the place of death is easier and more
secure against deterioration of the
physical remains. It is permissible,
however, to remove the body from one
place to another in case there is a
valid reason.
Ahmad said: "I do not know of any
harm in transferring the deceased from
one town to another." When
Az-Zuhri was asked about that, he
said, "The bodies of Sa'd ibn Abi
Waqqas and Sa'id ibn Zaid were removed
from al-'Aqiq to Madinah."
Preparation for the
Burial of the Dead
The body of the deceased person must
be prepared for burial, washed, and
shrouded, and a funeral prayer must be
offered for him. Then he should be
buried.
Washing the Dead
The majority of jurists are of the
opinion that washing the body of a
dead Muslim is a fard kifayah or a
collective obligation. If some people
attend to it, it is done on behalf of
all, as commanded by Allah's
Messenger, peace be upon him, and
practiced by the Muslim community.
Washing Severed
Parts of a Body
There is a difference of opinion among
Muslim jurists concerning washing
parts severed from a body. According
to Ash-Shafi'i, Ahmad and Ibn Hazm
these parts must be washed and
shrouded, and funeral prayer should be
offered for the departed soul.
Ash-Shafi'i said: "We were
informed that a bird dropped a (human)
hand in Makkah after the Battle of the
Camel. The people identified it by a
ring on one of its fingers (It was the
hand of Abdul al-Rahman ibn 'Itab ibn
Usayd (probably killed in the battle).
It was washed and a (funeral) prayer
was offered on it. This was witnessed
by many Companions alive at the time.
Ahmad said: Abu Ayub offered funeral
prayer on a (severed) foot of a dead
person, while 'Umar offered prayer on
a dead man's bones.
Ibn Hazm said: "A funeral prayer
may be offered on any organ found from
a dead Muslim's body. It should be
washed and shrouded, except when it is
part of a martyr' s body." Ibn
Hazm further remarks that offering
prayer on any organ found from a
Muslim's body is analogous to praying
for the whole person of the deceased,
namely, for body and soul.
Abu Hanifah and Malik say, however,
that, "If more than half of a
Muslim 's body is found, then it
should be washed and funeral prayer be
offered on it, but otherwise it should
not be washed nor should any funeral
prayer be offered on it.
Ghusl for washing a
corpse
According to
many scholars, performing ghusl is
also preferred for one who has washed
a corpse. Abu Hurariah reported that
the Prophet, upon whom be peace, said,
"Whoever has washed a corpse must
perform ghusl, and whoever carried him
must perform ablution." (Related
by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, at-Tirmizhi, an-Nasa'i,
Ibn Majah and others.) However, there
is some criticism of this hadith. 'Ali
ibn al-Madani, Ahmad, Ibn al-Munzhir,
ar-Rafi' and others say, "The
hadith scholars did not classify
anything on this topic as
authentic." But Ibn Hajr quotes
at-Tirmizhi and Ibn Hibban: "At-Tirmizhi
called it hassan and Ibn Hibban called
it sahih. And, due to its numerous
chains, it is most likely hassan. An-Nawawi
strongly refutes what at-Tirmizhi
said." Says azh-Zhahabi,
"The chains of this hadith are
stronger than a number of chains of
the hadith that the jurists argue
by." The order in the hadith
implies preference, based on what has
been related by 'Umar, who said,
"We used to wash the dead. Some
of us would perform ghusl and some
would not." (Related by al-Khateeb
with a sahih chain.) When 'Asma bint
Umaish washed the body of her deceased
husband, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, she asked
if there were any among the emigrants
present, and said, "This day is
extremely cold and I am fasting. Do I
have to make gh usl?" They said,
"No." (Related by Malik.)
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