He says: I found a dead, naked infant in the flowing water of a river. The child was newly born and its body was dismembered, so I was unable to wash it as is done for the deceased.

The questioner : He says: I found a dead, naked infant in the flowing water of a river. The child was newly born and its body was dismembered, so I was unable to wash it as is done for the deceased according to the Islamic Shari'ah. Is there any sin on me for burying it without washing it? And what should I do if such a situation were to recur?

The Shaykh : If such a situation were to recur and washing the deceased became difficult, the scholars say: one should perform tayammum. This means the living person strikes the earth with his hands and wipes the face and hands of the deceased with them, then shrouds him, prays over him, and buries him. As for what you did, it is not befitting for a person in such difficult matters to do something before consulting the scholars, as Allah the Exalted said: This is especially true in a matter like this, which you are doing for another, not for yourself. It is obligatory for you to exercise caution and not to be hasty in matters until you consult the scholars. As for this child, if you did not pray over him and you know the location of his grave, pray over his grave. Otherwise, pray over him as one would pray for an absent person, because it is obligatory for Muslims to pray over their deceased. The prayer over the deceased is, as is well known, a collective obligation.