(1) If someone dies, his eyes should be closed and his jaws have to be kept together.
(2) The body of a deceased Muslim, other than one killed in a battlefield, should be washed. Martyrs should not be washed and no funeral prayer should be offered for them. Their bodies should be enshrouded in the clothes they wore when they died; as the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not wash the martyrs of the Battle of Uhud and did not offer funeral prayer for them.
(3) How should the dead be washed? Upon washing the body of the deceased, his private parts are to be covered, and his stomach is to be gently pressed. The person who undertakes the washing of the body of the deceased should bind a clean piece of cloth, or something similar to it, around his own hand with which to clean the private parts of the deceased. He then gives him a Wudu' (ablution) wash [like the one that is performed prior to offering prayer]. He then washes his head and beard with water and nabk (lotus jujube) or something similar to it. Then he washes the rest of the body, beginning with the right side then the left side. He repeats this procedure two or three times, each time gently pressing the deceased's stomach. If anything happens to come out of one of the two orifices, then he has to wash it off and then block off the affected orifice with a piece of cotton wool or something similar to it. If this fails to work, he can then use anything that can satisfactorily serve the purpose, such as the use of adhesive plaster that is used in modern medical treatment.
He should repeat the ablution. If the body is not clean with three major washes, he can then wash it five or seven times. He then wipes the body dry, puts perfume on his underarms, in the upper part between the legs as well as the parts of the body that we put on the floor in the position of prostration. It is better to put perfume all over the body. His shrouds should be incensed with burned incense. His moustache and nails should be trimmed if they are too long,
and his hair should not be combed or styled. If the deceased is a woman, her hair has to be made into three plaits and then let it hangs loosely behind her.
(4) Enshrouding the dead: It is better to wrap the body of the deceased in three white shrouds not including a Qamis (long shirt) or a turban if he is a man. There is no harm in shrouding him in a Qamis, Izar (loincloth) and a large wrapper. If the deceased is a woman, her body has to be wrapped in five shrouds: a Dir` (breast cloth), Khimar (scarf), Izar, and two long wrappers.
A young boy should be wrapped in one, two, or three shrouds, and the body of the young girl has to be wrapped in one Qamis and two long wrappers. However, one shroud is sufficient for any person, if it covers the whole body. If the deceased man was in a state of Ihram (ritual state for Hajj or `Umrah), his body should be washed with water and nabk and he should be enshrouded in his Izar (what covers the lower part of the body) and Rida' (what covers the upper part of the body) or any other shroud. His head and face should not be covered and his body should not be perfumed; as he will be raised on the Day of Resurrection with Talbiyah (devotional expressions chanted at certain times during Hajj and `Umrah) on his lips, according to the Hadith of our great Prophet (peace be upon him). If (the deceased was) a woman, she should be shrouded like any other woman; but, her body should not be perfumed, her face should not be covered by Niqab (face veil) and her hands should not be covered with gloves. Her face and hands should be covered by the shroud itself, as we clarified above.
(5) The person who is more right to undertake the washing of the body of the deceased is the one appointed in the deceased will, then the father, the grandfather, and then the next of kin.
The person more entitled to wash the body of the body of the deceased woman is the female person appointed in the will to do so, then the mother, then the grandmother, and then the next of kin amongst the female relatives. A man can wash the body of his wife and she can also wash the body of her husband. Abu Bakr AlSiddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) was washed by his wife, and `Ali Ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) washed his wife Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her).