Islamic Rulings for Sisters
Shrouding a woman in a stitched lower garment
Mufti Muhammad Hashim Khan Attari Madani
Q: What do the scholars of Islam say regarding the following: some women state that when shrouding a deceased woman, stitched pants or shalwār should be used, and they are insistent upon this. Is this correct?
بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ
اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ
A: It is a Sunnah for both men and women to have a piece of cloth known as the izār in their shroud to cover the lower half of the body. Therefore, it is contrary to the Sunnah to shroud a woman in a stitched lower garment. The particular Sunnah way of shrouding a woman, which has been reported in Aḥādīth, does not include a stitched lower garment, rather it makes mention of an unstitched cloth.
Just as it is mentioned in some narrations that when one of the blessed daughters of the beloved Prophet صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم passed away, one by one he صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم handed the cloths for her shroud to the women who bathed her. They were five pieces of cloth and there was no stitched lower garment among them. Of these five pieces of cloth, he صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم gave his own lower garment first as a form of blessings, and he صَلَّى الـلّٰـهُ عَلَيْهِ وَاٰلِهٖ وَسَلَّم told the women to keep this particular piece of cloth in contact with her body.
The scholars of Islam mention that the reason for not shrouding the deceased in a stitched lower garment is that a living person’s Ꜥawrah (the part of a person’s body that is necessary to cover) can become exposed whilst they move around, but there is no such risk for a deceased person because they will not be walking around, so they have no need for a stitched lower garment.
This is the same reason why a living person wears a long upper garment on top of his unstitched lower garment, so that it facilitates ease for him when walking around, but as the deceased person will not be moving around, the qamīṣ (shirt) is placed first and then the lower piece of cloth on top of this.
Also, the shirt which is placed on the deceased does not have any sleeves and is not stitched on the sides either because whilst a living person has need for this, a deceased person does not.
To summarise, even if the deceased person is a female, she should be shrouded in accordance to the Sunnah and she should not be covered in a stitched lower garment. Those who insist that a stitched lower garment be used for shrouding are opposing the Sunnah and the way of the Muslims due to their lack of knowledge. Such people should desist from this and accept and act upon the rulings of Islamic Law, as explained by the scholars of Islam. Our success lies in this.
وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ عَزَّوَجَلَّ وَ رَسُوْلُہٗ اَعْلَم صلَّی اللہ علیہ واٰلہٖ وسلَّم
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