There is a hadith about shrouding a woman in five garments.

The questioner: So there is a hadith about shrouding a woman in five garments.

The Shaykh: How? Shrouding.

The questioner: The hadith about shrouding a woman in five garments.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner: Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar mentioned it in "Al-Fath".

The Shaykh: I mentioned the weakness of this hadith in "Ahkam al-Jana'iz", so from...

The questioner: You mean the hadith of Umm Atiyyah.

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner: The hadith of Umm Atiyyah?

The Shaykh: No, no, the hadith of the seven garments.

The questioner: Five garments.

The Shaykh: Five garments.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh: This is not the well-known hadith of Umm Atiyyah in "Al-Sahihayn".

The questioner: No, I am speaking about the five garments, which you lean toward considering weak. We need the references and you should detail this for us...?

The Shaykh: The details are in that book, and I do not have more than what you have heard right now; because the hadith is weak and not authentic. Then, the known Sunnah is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was shrouded in three garments. And as Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "If religion were by opinion, I would say that wiping over the soles of the leather socks is more appropriate than wiping over their tops." But religion is following. Similarly, we say: If religion were by opinion, shrouding in a single shroud would suffice; because it is destined to decay. But since the Sunnah came with three garments, we stop there and do not add to them. It is authentic from Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) what indicates this meaning - ... -; it was reported from Abu Bakr that when his death approached, he ordered to be shrouded in an old garment of his, and he said: "The living are more deserving of the new than the dead," pointing to this meaning; that is: this shroud is destined to decay; so why do we exaggerate in it? And why do we specify that the shroud be a new garment? No, we leave the new for the one who will live; because it is stronger for him and more beneficial. This is what can be mentioned on this occasion.

The questioner: Okay; regarding the three garments.

The Shaykh: - And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah -.

The questioner: The three garments, the scholars mentioned that one is shorter than the other?

The Shaykh: There is no detail on this, but the garments cover the entire body of the deceased.

The questioner: Are they the same size?

The Shaykh: Yes, so that they cover the entire body of the deceased, and nothing is less than something else. Some mention that the shirt is worn. There are no garments like a shirt or similar that are tailored to the body of the person as if he were alive; rather, they are three pieces in which he is wrapped, and the deceased is folded in them, then placed in the coffin, then in the grave.

The questioner: No, I mean the three garments are such that some are like this; this one is long and this one is shorter.

The Shaykh: . . . May Allah bless you . . .

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : And I have answered you.

The questioner: As for folding, there is no disagreement on it.

The Shaykh : How?

The questioner: Is there no disagreement on folding them in the graves?

The Shaykh: ... that the detail of saying three shrouds, one longer than the other, and the other shorter; this has not been mentioned in the Sunnah at all. And I added to that and said: Some mention that it is recommended to be dressed in a shirt. I said: No; because the Messenger was not shrouded in a tailored manner, but was folded in three shrouds, and no mention of this detail came in the analogy.