Janazah guide · 5 min read
Kafan — shrouding the deceased
The sheets used for a man and for a woman, how they are laid out, and how the shroud is closed.
On matters of religious practice, your own masjid and scholars are the authority. This guide covers the process around them.
The shroud
The kafan is the set of plain sheets the deceased is wrapped in — ideally white, and perfumed or fumigated an odd number of times with incense such as oudh or frankincense. Three strips of cloth are prepared as ties: one at the head, one above the waist, one at the feet.
For a man — three sheets
The body is placed on the lower half of the qamees and the upper half drawn over, easing the head through the opening; the covering sheet is then removed. Perfume or camphor is applied to the places of sajdah — forehead, nose, palms, knees and forefeet — and to the beard. The izaar is folded over the body left side first, then right; the lifafah the same; and the three ties are knotted at head, waist and feet.
- Lifafah: the largest sheet, extending beyond head and feet — laid out first over the ties.
- Izaar: slightly smaller, head to feet — laid over the lifafah.
- Qamees: a sheet folded in half with an opening for the head, reaching shoulder to mid-calf — laid on top, its upper half rolled back towards the opening.
The ties are undone after the body is lowered into the grave.
For a woman — five sheets
The layout adds the khimar at the head side and the khirqah below the shoulder line. After the qamees is drawn on, her hair is arranged in two tresses laid on either side of the chest, and the khimar laid — not tied — over the head with its ends covering the tresses. The izaar is folded over left then right, then the chest wrap from under the armpits, then the lifafah, and the three ties knotted as before.
- Lifafah and izaar, as for a man.
- Khimar: a headscarf covering the head and hair.
- Qamees: as for a man.
- Khirqah: a chest wrap extending from the armpits to the knees.
Adapted, with gratitude, from “What to Do When Someone Dies — A Practical Guide for Muslims” by the Rochdale Council of Mosques (Registered charity no. 1148918), generalised for families anywhere in the UK.