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 24 September 2026 at 12:48 AM
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 three white garments from Yemen, without shirt or turban, according to Aisha (al-Bukhari 1205 ; Muslim 941). For a man, the fullest description includes three white pieces: an izar, a qamis and wrappings; a woman counts five (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 five garments for the man and seven for the woman; al-Shafi'i retains three for the man and five 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 two garments, based on Abu Bakr's instruction: « wash this garment and add two 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 s idr, shrouded in his two ihram garments, without perfume and with head uncovered, based on the hadith: « wash him with water and s idr, shroud him in his two 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.