The Creed of Compassion-Islamic Teachings & Answering Doctrinal Misconceptions

Issue No.512- It is recommended to carry a person who is experiencing a painful and slow death to the place where he used to perform prayers.

Issue No.513- If a person is in the throes of death, it is good to recite by his side Surah al-Yasin, Surah al-Saffat, Surah al-Ahzab, Ayat al-Kursi and to recite as much out of the holy Qur"an as possible.

Issue No.514- It is Makrooh to leave a dying person alone or to place a weight on his stomach, or to talk or weep near him or to let only women stay with him. It is also Makrooh to be by his side in the states of Janabat or Hayz.

Issue No.515- It is recommended that the mouth and eyes of the deceased be shut, the chin be pushed up, hands and feet be straightened and to spread a cloth over the body, and inform the believers to join the tashyī‘ (i.e., escort of the body to the grave), and to not turn the dead body away from the direction of qiblah as long as the body is in the place of death and to hasten the burial. However, if, they are not sure of his/her death, they should wait until they are certain.

Issue No.516- If the dead person is a pregnant woman and there is still a living child in her womb, or the child is likely to be alive, her left side is cut open and the child is taken out and then her side is sewn. If there is access to experts, this should be done under their supervision.

Issue No.517- The ghusl, shrouding, death prayer and burial of a Muslim who is dead are obligatory for every Muslim as a common duty [1] , meaning if some persons fulfil these obligations, others are relieved of the responsibility. However, if undertakes these responsibilities, all will have sinned. This ruling applies to all Muslims regardless of their sects.

Issue No.520- Permission should be taken from the legal guardian of the deceased for the ghusl, shrouding, performing prayer and burial. The husband takes precedence over his wife, and then those who inherit the person according to the groups that are explained in “inheritance” section of this book will have the legal guardianship over the deceased. And if in one group the heirs are men and women, permission should, as an obligatory precaution, be sought from both of them.

Issue No.521- If someone claims that he is the appointed executor or the legal guardian of the deceased, or the legal guardian of the deceased has given him permission to carry out the obligatory acts and the corpse is in his possession, then all the dead person’s tasks should be carried out with his permission.

Issue No.522-If a dead person appoints someone other than his legal guardian to carry out his final procedures, i.e. if he has said that a particular person is to perform prayer on his dead body, it is obligatory to act accordingly, and the recommended precaution is to seek permission from his guardian too. However, it is not obligatory for the one appointed to accept this appointment, although it is better that he does, and if so, he must act upon it.

Issue No.523- If a person knows that the legal guardian has the consent, though he has not expressed it openly, this is sufficient for him to carry out the duties in respect to the deceased.

Issue No.541- The body of a dead Muslim should be shrouded with three pieces of cloth: a loincloth, a shirt, and a full cover cloth.

Issue No.542- The first cloth loincloth must cover all around the body from navel to the knees, and it is better that it covers the body from the chest to the feet. As an obligatory precaution, the shirt should be long enough to cover all around the body from the top of the shoulders down to the middle of the calves. The full cover cloth as an obligatory precaution should be so long that it may be tied at the head as well as at the feet and its breadth should be such that its one edge should overlap the other.