What the Living Can do for the Dead

According to the Quran and Sunna and the Opinions of the Classical Scholars of Islam

This is a detailed, yet easily accessible, manual on what to do when someone dies. It covers the procedures due upon a person's death. The rites of preparing the body for burial, the bathing, the shrouding, and the procedure for funeral prayer, according to all four Sunni schools, are discussed. Many important questions are answered.

• Is it permitted to transport the body abroad for burial?
• Can a headstone be placed on the grave?
• What can the heirs do for their deceased loved ones after burial?
• What are the etiquette for visiting graves?
• Is the posthumous donation of reward (isal al-thawab) permissible?
• Finally, how does one make atonements and expiations and settle debts on behalf of the deceased?

The Author

Dr. Shahrul Hussain is a graduate of the University of Al-Azhar, Cairo. He completed his traditional Islamic education (dars-i nizami) at Birmingham's first Islamic School, Darul Uloom al-Islamiyyah al-Arabiyyah. He is the Chair of Directors of the Abrahamic Foundation and a lecturer in Islamic Studies at the Markfield Institute for Higher Education, in partnership with Newman University Birmingham. He lectures in Quran and hadith studies and Islamic theology and jurisprudence. He has particular research interests in international Islamic law and contemporary Islamic jurisprudence.