Tajhiz al-Mayyit
From Death to Resurection |
![]() |
Simultaneous Events with Death
|
Obligations towards the Dead
|
After Burying in the Grave
|
Resurrection
|
Related Concepts
|
Tajhīz al-Mayyit (Arabic: تَجْهیز المَیِّت; lit: preparation of the deceased) refers to the preparation and stages of burial for a Muslim deceased. Performing death rituals is a collective obligation (wajib al-kifa'i) and becomes obligatory after death is confirmed. The stages of death rituals include: ghusl, hanut (application of camphor), shrouding, prayer over the dead, and burial. Priority in performing death rituals lies with the guardian (wali) of the deceased, and the expenses are taken from the deceased's principal estate. Jurists have also discussed the preliminaries of death rituals, including the etiquette and rulings for the dying person (muhtadar), such as turning his/her body toward the "qibla" and dictating shahadatayn (the testimonies of faith) to them.
Stages of death rituals
Performing a death ritual is the process of preparing the deceased for burial.[1] In Islamic jurisprudence, the following steps are outlined for preparing the deceased after death:[2]
- Ghusl: The deceased must be washed three times: first with water mixed with "sidr" (lotus leaves), then with water mixed with camphor (kafur), and finally with pure water.[3] If sidr and kafur are not available, the deceased should be washed with pure water only.[4] If even washing with water is not possible, tayammum should be performed for the deceased.[5]
- Hanut (applying camphor): applying camphor to the deceased is obligatory.[6] Hanut means applying camphor to the seven places of prostration in daily prayer: the forehead, the palms of both hands, the knees, and the tips of the big toes, and according to some, the tip of the nose as well.[7]
- Shrouding: It is obligatory to shroud the deceased with a "kafan" (cloth).[8] The shroud consists of three parts: a loincloth, a shirt-like covering (qamis), and a full-body wrap (izar).[9]
- Prayer over the dead: It is obligatory for Muslims to perform the prayer over the dead body of a Muslim, even if it is a child, after washing, shrouding, and before burial.[10]
- Burial: Placing the deceased in the grave and covering it is obligatory.[11]
According to jurists, turning the body of the dying person (muhtadar) towards the "qibla" is one of the preliminaries of the death ritual.[12] They state that turning the body of the dying person towards the qibla is obligatory,[13] and dictating shahadatayn (the testimonies of faith) to them is recommended.[14]
Rulings of Preparing the Deceased
In jurisprudential books, the rulings related to death rituals are mentioned in the section on purity.[15] Some of these rulings are:
- Performing death rituals is a collective obligation:[16] However, Muhaddith Bahrani considers it an individual obligation (wajib al-'ayni) on the guardian (wali) of the deceased, which becomes a collective obligation for other Muslims in case of refusal or absence of the guardian.[17]
- The criterion for applying the rulings of performing death rituals, especially burial, is the absence of any signs of life and the appearance of definitive signs of death.[18]
- Priority in performing death rituals lies with the guardian (wali) of the deceased:[19] The guardian of the deceased is the one who, based on the categories of inheritance, holds priority in receiving the inheritance left by the deceased.[20]
- Getting permission from the guardian of the deceased for performing the death rituals is obligatory.[21] According to jurists, this condition does not contradict the collective obligation (wajib al-kifa'i) of performing the death rituals.[22]
- If all the children of the deceased are non-Muslims, their guardianship in granting permission for performing the death rituals is nullified, and it becomes obligatory for Muslims to carry out this duty.[23]
- According to the author of al-Riyad (d. 1231 AH/1815-6), if the deceased has made a will appointing someone other than the guardian to perform their death rituals, according to the well-known viewpoint among jurists, the guardian can prevent the appointee from fulfilling the will.[24] However, according to the fatwa of Sistani,[25] Makarim Shirazi,[26] and Khamenei,[27] it is better for the appointee to seek permission from the guardian, and for the guardian to grant permission.
- The expenses for performing the death rituals are taken from the principal estate of the deceased and before the division of his/her property.[28] The expenses for performing the death rituals take precedence over paying off debts and fulfilling the wills of the deceased.[29]
- Majority of the jurists consider receiving payment for performing the death rituals to be prohibited.[30] However, Shahid al-Awwal, in the book al-Durus al-Shar'iyya, has quoted from al-Sayyid al-Murtada that someone other than the guardian may receive payment for performing the death rituals.[31]
Notes
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 22.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 22; Sharīfī Ashkiwarī, Muntakhab-i fiqrāt-i fiqhīyya, p. 65.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 46-47.
- ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, vol. 3, p. 455.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 48.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 4, p. 176; Ḥakīm, Mustamsak al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 4, p. 1185.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 4, p. 176-179.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 1, p. 402.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 2, p. 456.
- ↑ Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 78.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 115.
- ↑ Shahīd al-Thānī, al-Rawḍat al-bahiyya, vol. 1, p. 399.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 4, p. 6.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 4, p. 14.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 22.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 1, p. 174; Ḥillī, al-Muʿtabar, vol. 1, p. 264; Gharawī Tabrīzī, al-Tanqīḥ fī sharh-i ʿurwat al-wuthqā, vol. 8, p. 279; Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 65; Sīstānī, Tawḍīh al-masāʾil, p. 118.
- ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira, vol. 3, p. 377.
- ↑ Bahjat, Istiftāʾāt, vol. 1, p. 335; Makārim Shīrāzī, Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd, vol. 1, p. 483; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 4, p. 24.
- ↑ Ḥillī, al-Muʿtabar, vol. 1, p. 264.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 4, p. 45.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 22; Sīstānī, Tawḍīh al-masāʾil al-jāmiʿ, vol. 1, p. 287.
- ↑ Shahīd al-Thānī, Masālik al-afhām, vol. 1, p. 80; Gharawī Tabrīzī, al-Tanqīḥ fī sharh-i ʿurwat al-wuthqā, vol. 8, p. 285.
- ↑ Bujnūrdī, Qawāʿid fiqhīyya, vol. 1, p. 363.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Rīyāḍ al-masāʾil, vol. 4, p. 39.
- ↑ Sīstānī, Tawḍīh al-masāʾil, p. 120.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil, p. 97.
- ↑ Will (Persian)
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 71.
- ↑ Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā, vol. 2, p. 71.
- ↑ Narāqī, Mustanad al-Shīʿa, vol. 14, p. 175; Shaykh Anṣārī, Kitāb al-makāsib, vol. 2, p. 125; Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 475; Sīstānī, Tawḍīh al-masāʾil, p. 122.
- ↑ Shahīd al-Awwal, al-Durūs, vol. 3, p. 172.
References
- Bujnūrdī, Sayyid Muḥammūd. Qawāʿid fiqhīyya. 3rd edition. Tehran: Muʾassisa ʿUrūj, 1401 AH.
- Baḥrānī, Yūsuf al-. Al-Ḥadāʾiq al-nāḍira fī aḥkām al-ʿitrat al-ṭāhira. Edited by Muḥammad Taqī Irawānī. Qom: Intishārāt-i Islāmī, [n.d].
- Bahjat, Muḥammad Taqī. Istiftāʾāt. Qom: Daftar-i Āyatullāh Bahjat, 1428 AH.
- Gharawī Tabrīzī, ʿAlī . Al-Tanqīḥ fī sharh-i ʿurwat al-wuthqā; taqrīrāt-i dars-i Aytullāh al-Khoeī. Qom: Nashr-i Luṭfī, 1407 AH.
- Ḥillī, Jaʿfar b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Muʿtabar fī sharḥ al-mukhtaṣar. Qom: Muʾassisa Sayyid al-Shuhadāʾ (a), 1407 AH.
- Ḥakīm, Muḥsin. Mustamsak al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1388 Sh.
- Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Wizārat-i Farhang wa Irshād-i Islāmī, 1370 Sh.
- Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Taḥrīr al-wasīla. Tehran: Muʾassisa-yi Tanẓīm wa Nashr-i Āthār-i Imām Khomeini, 1392 Sh.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tawḍīḥ al-masāʾil. Qom: Intishārāt-i Madrasa-yi Imām ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (a), 1429 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Istiftāʾāt-i jadīd. Qom: Intishārāt-i Madrasa-yi Imām ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (a), 1429 AH.
- Najafī, Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Edited by ʿAbbās Qūchānī. 7th edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1362 Sh.
- Narāqī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad Mahdī. Mustanad al-Shīʿa fī aḥkām al-sharīʿa. Mashhad: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt li-Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, [n.d].
- Shaykh Anṣārī, Murtaḍā b. Muḥammad Amīn. Kitāb al-makāsib. [n.p]: Turāth al-Shaykh al- al-aʿẓam, [n.d].
- Sīstānī, Sayyid ʿAlī. Tawḍīh al-masāʾil. Qom: Daftar-i Ayatullāh Sīstānī, 1415 AH.
- Sīstānī, Sayyid ʿAlī. Tawḍīh al-masāʾil al-jāmiʿ. Mashhad: Daftar-i Ayatullāh Sīstānī, 1396 Sh.
- Sharīfī Ashkiwarī, Ilyās. Muntakhab-i fiqrāt-i fiqhīyya. Qom: Daftar-i Āyatullāh Sharīfī Ashkiwarī, 1389 Sh.
- Shahīd al-Awwal, Muḥammad b. Makkī. Al-Durūs al-sharʿīyya fī fiqh al-imāmiyya. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, [n.d].
- Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAlī. Al-Rawḍat al-bahiyya fī sharḥ al-lumʿat al-Dimashqiyya. Edited by Muḥammad Kalāntar. Beirut: Muʾassisa al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, [n.d].
- Shahīd al-Thānī, Zayn al-Dīn b. ʿAlī. Masālik al-afhām ilā tanqīh sharāyiʿ al-Islām. 1st edition. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Maʿārif al-Islāmīyya, 1413 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Mabsūṭ fī fiqh al-imāmīyya. Tehran: al-Maktaba al-Murtaḍawīyya, 1387 AH.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, ʿAlī. Rīyāḍ al-masāʾil fī taḥqīq al-aḥkām bi-dalāʾil. Qom: Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt (a), 1418 AH.
- Yazdī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāẓim al-. Al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1419 AH.
- وصیت (Will (Persian)). Accessed: 2025/07/04.