Can you see the body before a Muslim burial?

The four schools agree on this.

Explanation

Saying goodbye is a deep need, and Islam does not take it away. The Prophet ﷺ kissed Uthman ibn Maz'un after he died, and after Uhud he let Jabir keep uncovering his father's face and weeping, though others tried to stop him. When he himself died, Abu Bakr uncovered his face, bent over him and kissed him.

• Seeing the face after the washing and shrouding, usually before the janazah or before the body leaves the home or mosque, is fine.
• Kissing the forehead, crying quietly and making dua are fine.
• Mahram relatives of the opposite sex may see the face, and a wife may see her husband. In the Hanafi school a husband may see his wife's face too.

• Avoid a Western-style wake or open casket where the body is displayed, made up or embalmed for viewers; see embalming.
• Avoid non-mahram men and women looking at each other's dead, as in life.
• Avoid photos or videos of the body.
• Avoid holding the body for days so more people can see it; see how soon burial must happen.
• Avoid wailing, or uncovering more than the face.

Sitting with the body. There is no sunnah of an overnight vigil. The family may stay near the body, make dhikr and dua, and recite Quran at a distance until it is washed. Many mosques arrange a short private viewing for relatives before the prayer, which is a gentle way to say farewell. See also crying at a death.

The evidence

Where the ruling is recorded

• Radd al-Muhtar (Ibn Abidin), Kitab al-Salah, Bab Salat al-Janazah. Seeing the dead, and the husband seeing his wife.
• al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya, Kitab al-Karahiyya. Rules of looking, which continue after death.

Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.