Islamic Fiqh > Funerals > The shroud (kafan)
Dressing the deceased: the quality of the shroud, the pieces for the man and the woman, and the prophetic recommendation to do the shroud well.
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Updated on 06 October 2026 at 10:50 PM
Shrouding the dead is a collective obligation by the scholars' unanimity, based on the Prophet's command: « wear white among your garments, for it is the best of your garments, and shroud your dead in it » (Abu Dawud 3878 ; at-Tirmidhi 994 ; Ibn Majah 1475).
The Prophet was shrouded in 3 white garments from Yemen, without shirt or turban, according to Aisha (al-Bukhari 1205 ; Muslim 941). For a man, the fullest description includes 3 white pieces: an izar, a qamis and wrappings; a woman counts 5 (izar, shirt, veil and wrappings), based on Layla bint Qanif's account about Umm Kulthum, the Prophet's daughter (a report judged weak in its chain). Malik prefers 5 garments for the man and 7 for the woman; al-Shafi'i retains 3 for the man and 5 for the woman, based on Aisha's hadith.
When one of you shrouds his brother, let him make his shroud fine.
Muslim 943
The minimum consists of 2 garments, based on Abu Bakr's instruction: « wash this garment and add 2 more, shroud me in them » (al-Bukhari 1321). In necessity, whatever covers the nakedness suffices: Mus'ab ibn Umayr, killed at Uhud, had for a whole shroud but a cloth covering his head and leaving his feet bare, and the Prophet ordered covering his head with it and his feet with grass (al-Bukhari 1276 ; Muslim 940). Beyond the full set, excess is disliked as waste of property.
If he dies in a state of ihram, he is washed with water and sidr, shrouded in his 2 ihram garments, without perfume and with head uncovered, based on the hadith: « wash him with water and sidr, shroud him in his 2 garments, do not touch him with perfume and do not cover his head, for he will be resurrected on the day of resurrection pronouncing the talbiya » (al-Bukhari 1265 ; Muslim 1206). Hanafis and Malikis cover his head with a veil relying on the words « cover their heads », a report judged weak.
White, simple, discreet: the shroud follows the sobriety of the hadith, and the recommended embellishment means neither luxury nor excess.