Muḥammad is related to have said:—
“Do not be expensive in your shrouds, for they soon rot.”
“Plain white is the best for the shrouds of your dead.”
“The best cloth for a shroud is ḥullah” (i.e. a white striped cloth used in Arabia).
ʿĀyishah says: “The Prophet was shrouded in three garments, but there was neither a coat nor a turban.”
These three garments are still used as shrouds in all parts of Islām.
(1) Izār, a piece of cloth which covers from the waist to the feet.
(2) Ridāʾ, covering from the feet to the shoulders.
(3) Lifāfah, a large sheet covering the whole body from head to feet, and closed at the ends.
The bodies of martyrs are not shrouded, but are buried in the garments in which they fell, for it is related that Muḥammad so ordered the men who fell in the battle of Uḥud to be buried; their weapons being first removed from their bodies, they were buried in their blood-stained clothes. [[BURIAL].]