Short answer
Lay the body on a clean raised table and keep it covered from navel to knee. Wash the private parts under the cover with a gloved hand, give the body wudu without rinsing the mouth and nose, then pour water over the right side and then the left, three times in all. Use sidr or soap, add camphor in the last wash, dry the body and apply perfume.
Washing the dead is fard kifayah. The Hanafi method is wudu without madmada and istinshaq (rinsing mouth and nose), then washing with sidr or soapy water, first on the left side so the right is washed, then on the right side, then a final wash with camphor water. Hair and nails are not cut or combed.
Other madhhabs
- Shafi'i
- Rinsing the mouth and nose is part of the wudu given to the body, done carefully with the head tilted so water does not go in.
Explanation
Washing a Muslim's body is a last act of service, and the Prophet ﷺ taught it in detail. The best washers are relatives of the same sex who know the method, helped by the mosque's team; see who can wash a dead body.
Before you start: warm water, a clean table or board, gloves, towels, soap or sidr (lotus leaf powder), camphor, and the kafan laid out ready. Only the washers and helpers should be present. Cover the area from navel to knee and keep it covered throughout.
- Remove the clothes gently, cutting them if needed, keeping the body covered.
- Wash the private parts with a gloved hand under the cover.
- Give the body wudu: wash the face and the arms to the elbows, wipe the head and wash the feet. Do not pour water into the mouth or nose; wipe the teeth and nostrils with a wet cloth instead.
- Wash the head and beard with soap or sidr water.
- Turn the body onto its left side and pour water from head to feet over the right side until it reaches the underside. Then turn it onto its right side and wash the left side the same way.
- Sit the body up slightly, leaning it against you, and wipe the stomach gently. Wash away anything that comes out.
- Pour water over the whole body so it has been washed three times in all, with camphor in the last water. Five or seven washes are fine if needed.
- Dry the body with a towel, put perfume on the head and beard, and camphor on the forehead, nose, palms, knees and feet, the places of sujud.
If something comes out after the washing, wash it away, but the ghusl and wudu are not repeated. Do not cut hair or nails, and keep secret any flaw you see. Then shroud the body; see the kafan. A washer may take a bath afterwards; see ghusl after washing the dead.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Israa 17:70
۞ وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِىٓ ءَادَمَ وَحَمَلْنَٰهُمْ فِى ٱلْبَرِّ وَٱلْبَحْرِ وَرَزَقْنَٰهُم مِّنَ ٱلطَّيِّبَٰتِ وَفَضَّلْنَٰهُمْ عَلَىٰ كَثِيرٍۢ مِّمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلًۭا ﴿٧٠﴾
And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.
The human body keeps its honour after death, so it is washed with care and privacy.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1253
Sahih... اغسلنها ثلاثا أو خمسا أو أكثر من ذلك إن رأيتن ذلك بماء وسدر ...
"Wash her three or five times, or more if you see the need, with water and lotus leaves."
This sets the odd number of washes and the use of sidr.
Sahih al-Bukhari 167
Sahih... ابدأن بميامنها ومواضع الوضوء منها ...
"Start with her right side and the places of wudu."
The washing begins with wudu and the right side.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Hidaya, Kitab al-Salah, Bab al-Jana'iz, section on washing. The order of the washing, wudu without rinsing mouth and nose, and wiping the stomach.
- Nur al-Idah with Maraqi al-Falah, Bab Ahkam al-Jana'iz. Not combing hair or cutting nails, and perfuming the places of sujud.
- al-Majmu' (Nawawi), Kitab al-Jana'iz. The Shafi'i wudu of the dead with rinsing of mouth and nose.
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.