Is it correct that the husband washes the (dead body) of his wife?

Abu Muhammad · Aug 16, 2023, 03:38 PM

📌 Is it correct that the husband washes the (dead body) of his wife?

❓ Question: Is it correct that the husband washes (the dead body of) his wife?

✍🏻 Answer: "All praises and thanks be to Allāh Alone, and prayers and salutations be upon the one after whom there are no Prophets."

If either husband or wife dies, they can give ghusl (i.e., wash the dead body) to one another. There is nothing wrong with that. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said to 'Ā'ishah (may Allāh be pleased with her): "...Were you to die before me, I would wash you, cloth you with the kafan, prayed the janāzah prayer over you and buried you (myself)." [Sunan ibn Mājah (1465)]*

It is narrated from Fāṭimah (may Allāh be pleased with her) that she entrusted her husband, 'Alī (may Allāh be pleased with him), with the responsibility of performing her ghusl. [Sunan ad-Dāraquṭnī (1851 (2/447)), and Bayhayqī's Sunan al-Kubrā (6660 (3/556))] Imām ash-Shawkānī declared this narration to be ḥasan and said: 'In it is evidence that a woman can be washed by her husband after she dies.' [Nayl al-Awṭār (1377 (4/30-31))]**

Some people mistakenly think that the relationship between a husband and wife ends after death, and due to this [misinterpretation] one cannot touch the other, nor perform their post-mortem purification (ghusl), and other matters; however, this is in opposition to the Sunnah, as the clear evidences have mentioned.

And the last of our call is: All praise is due to Allah, Rabb of the 'Ālamīn.

📚 Source: Fatāwā Lajnā al-'Ulamā' (1/117-118)

Footnotes by Maktabah Takhrīj al-Ḥadīth

*: Grade:
• Ḥasan by Shaykh al-Albānī: Sunan ibn Majah (1465 (1/260)), and Irwā' al-Ghalīl (700 (3/160-162)))
• Ḥadīth ḥasan by Shaykh Shu'ayb al-Arna'ūṭ: Sunan ibn Majah (1465 (2/449-450)), and Musnad Aḥmad (25908 (43/81-83))
• Ḍa'īf isnād by Ḥāfiẓ Zubayr 'Alī Za'ī: Sunan ibn Majah (1465 (1/259-260)), and Anwāruṣ Ṣaḥīfah (1465 (1/430))
• Isnād ṣaḥīḥ by Shaykh Dr. Ḥamzah Zayn: Musnad Aḥmad (25784 (18/87))

**: Sharḥ Musnad ash-Shāfī'ī (1620 (4/230-231)): "And in it is evidence that it is permissible for the husband to perform the ghusl of his wife, and it is narrated that ibn Mas'ūd (may Allāh be pleased with him) performed the ghusl of his wife, and [it is narrated] on the authority of ibn 'Abbās (may Allāh be pleased with them both) that he said: 'A man has more right to performing the ghusl of his wife...'" [Muṣannaf ibn Abī Shaybah (12323 (7/183) [there is kalām on the authenticity of this narration]). Refer to Irwā' al-Ghalīl (701 (3/162))]

Note: The references have been put by Maktabah Takhrīj al-Ḥadīth, so they may not tally with the numbers given in the original book [Fatāwā Lajnā al-'Ulamā'].
Translated by 'Imrān (Germany), and Abū Sinān (UK)

Abu Muhammad · Sep 26, 2023, 01:57 PM

📌 There is no harm in the husband washing his wife's body

❓ Question: I have often heard from the general public that when a wife dies, it is no longer permissible for her husband to look at her or to place her in the grave. Is this correct? Please respond, may Allāh bless you.

✍🏻 Answer: The sharī'ah evidences indicate that there is no harm in the husband washing his wife or for him to look at her. There is no harm in her washing him or looking at him. In fact, Asmā' bint 'Umays (may Allāh be pleased with her) washed her husband's body, Abū Bakr aṣ-Ṣiddīq (may Allāh be pleased with him). And Fāṭimah (may Allāh be pleased with her) willed that she be washed by her husband 'Alī (may Allāh be pleased with him).

📚 Source: Islāmic Fatāwā Regarding Women – Compiled by Muhammad bin Abdul-Aziz al-Musnad (fatwā by Shaykh ibn Bāz, question: 115 (1/131))
Translated by Jamaal al-Din M. Zarabozo for Dārussalām

Takhrīj al-Ḥadīth – Fatāwā

Is it correct that the husband washes the (dead body) of his wife?

Abu Muhammad

Abu Muhammad