Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Fathwa - Washing the burned deceased

Question
A twenty-year-old Muslimgirl was burned to death.Her body shrank and
all her body`s features were gone to the extent that her gender could
not be distinguished. How should we wash her according to the
Sunnah)please mention the evidence(? Is it permissible for males to
wash her, whether her Mahrams or non Mahrams, because we know that if
the women went in to wash her, it would cause catastrophicscreaming
because of thehorrible scene? Please note that she was unmarried.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad,
is His Slave and Messenger.
It is obligatory to wash the girl, if it is possible. If you fear that
her body will be torn, you must perform Tayammum )dry ablution( for
her; someone hits the ground with his hands and then wipes over her
face and hands. After that she is tobe shrouded and then you offer the
funeral prayer on her.
In his book Al-Mughni,Ibn Qudaamah, may Allaah have upon him, said: "…
and the one over whom a building fell, the burned and the drowned; if
it is possible to wash him, then he must be washed. If there is fear
that washing might tear the body, water should be poured over him
without touching him. If it is feared that water would tear the body,
he must not be washed and Tayammum should be made for him if it is
possible, like the living who is harmed by water. If it is not
possible to wash him because of the lack of water, Tayammumshould be
made for him. If it is not possible to wash all his body, they have to
wash what is possible to wash and perform Tayammum for the other
parts, like a living individual."
ImaamAn-Nawawisaid: "If it is difficult to wash the dead for the lack
of water or because he is burnt so that if they washed him his body
willtear, they must not wash him. Rather, they have to perform
Tayammum for him. It is obligatory to perform Tayammum since it is a
cleaning process with no relevance to removing the impurities. Hence,
if itis impossible to use water, it will be incumbent to perform
Tayammum."
As for the question: who is to wash her if she was unmarried?
The answer is that women should wash her, and the priority is for
herMahram-women, if not then the non- Mahrams of women, if not then
theforeign women. If there are no women )able to wash her( or there is
a fear that they may scream, the closest men of her Mahrams should
wash her. They may do that in the presence of women. However, If there
are no Mahrams whether males or females the vast majority of the
scholars choose toperform Tayammum for her. Furthermore, there
isanother scholarly opinion indicating covering her with a sheetthen
washing her from under it whilst the one who washes her wears gloves
or the like and lowers his gaze as much as possible.
Allaah Knows best.

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