Washing the Body of a Dismembered Deceased

Question

Is it permissible to wash someone whose body parts are severed? If so, what is the method of washing them? [AR_ID:5596]

Answer 1

Peace be upon you.

Ayatollah al-Uzma Sayyid Sistani (may Allah protect him):

If what remains of the deceased can be recognized as the body of the deceased according to common understanding, such as if the limbs (head, arms, legs) are completely or partially severed, or if all of the bones are present without flesh, or most of them, provided that the bones of the chest are among them, then it is obligatory to pray for them, as well as to perform washing and anointing if some of their body parts are available, and to wrap them in a shroud and shirt, and even a waistcloth if some parts that need to be covered are present.

If what remains of the deceased cannot be recognized as their body but rather as part of it, and if it is the upper part of the body (the chest and its corresponding back), whether or not it is accompanied by other parts, it is obligatory to pray for it, as well as to wash and shroud it with a waistcloth and shirt, and a waistcloth if its place is available - even partially - as a precaution. If some of its body parts are present, it is obligatory to anoint it as a precaution. This ruling also applies if all or most of the bones of this upper part are found as a precaution.

If the upper part of the deceased's body is not found, such as if only the limbs are found completely or partially without flesh, or if some of their bones are found - even if they include some chest bones - then it is not obligatory to pray for them, nor to wash, shroud, or anoint them.

If something is found that does not include bones - even if it contains the heart - then nothing from the aforementioned is obligatory except for burial, and it is a precaution to wrap it in a cloth before burial.

Source: Selected Issues - Burial of the Deceased - M 127

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Ayatollah al-Uzma Sayyid Khamenei (may Allah protect him):

A severed piece of the deceased that does not include bones does not need to be washed before burial; rather, it should be wrapped in a cloth and buried as a precaution. If it includes bones but does not include the chest, it should be washed and buried after being wrapped in a cloth. The same applies if it is a bone that is stripped for burial, and it is a precaution to include it in washing as well, although its exclusion is not without strength. If it is the chest or includes the chest, or is part of the chest where the heart is located during life, even if it does not actually include it, it should be washed, shrouded, prayed over, and buried. It is permissible to limit the shroud to a cloth and wrapping unless it includes part of the waistcloth area as well. If some of its body parts are present, that part should be anointed. There is ambiguity in including a severed part from a living person with the deceased in all that has been mentioned; it is advisable to include it, but not to include it in the case of washing after the bone or what includes it.

Source: Tahrir al-Wasila - Purification - Chapter on Washings - Rulings of the Deceased - Rulings of Washing the Deceased and Its Conditions - M2

May you be successful in all good.