Shia Islamic Laws for Adults: A Practical Fiqh Jaffari Guide

Taqlid: choosing and following a Marja

التَّقْلِيد

تقلید اور مرجع کا انتخاب

Every adult Muslim must make sure that their worship and dealings match the law of Allah. There are three ways to do this. A mujtahid works out the rulings himself from the Quran and the Sunnah. A person who acts on ihtiyat (precaution) does every act in a way that satisfies all opinions, which is difficult and needs knowledge. Everyone else follows a mujtahid. This third way is taqlid, and it is what almost all of us do, just as we trust a qualified doctor rather than study medicine ourselves.

Who can be a Marja?

According to Ayatullah Sistani, the mujtahid you follow must be male, baligh, sane, a Twelver Shia, born of a lawful marriage, living, and 'adil (just). Where the mujtahids differ in their rulings, you must follow the most learned (a'lam). Taqlid is about the rulings of practice. Beliefs such as Tawheed and Imamat are not taken by taqlid; each person should be convinced of them with their own understanding, as set out in Shia Aqaid Explained.

How do you find out who the most learned is?

• You become certain of it yourself, for example if you are a scholar who can judge.
• Two just people who are able to judge say so, and other equally able people do not say otherwise.
• A number of people of knowledge say so, and their word gives you confidence.

How do you learn his rulings?

You can hear them from the Marja himself, from two just people, or from one trustworthy person who reports them correctly. Most people use his book of rulings (the risalah), his official website, or his office's answers to questions. Be careful with rulings you hear in a group chat or at a gathering. If someone tells you “Agha says…”, ask where they read it.

Obligatory and recommended precaution

In the risalah you will see two kinds of precaution. Where the Marja says “as an obligatory precaution” (ihtiyat wajib), he has not given a fatwa, so you may act on the precaution, or follow the ruling of the next most learned mujtahid on that one point. Where he says “as a recommended precaution” (ihtiyat mustahab), the precaution is good to follow but not required.

Case: “I prayed for years without a Marja”

Sana grew up praying the way her mother taught her and never chose a Marja. Now she does. Must she repeat everything? No. The acts she did without taqlid are valid if they match the rulings of the Marja she should have followed, or now follows. She only needs to repeat any act that, in a way that matters, did not match. If you are unsure about years of past prayers, a tutor or the Marja's office can help you check the main points.

Sources: the Holy Quran; al-Ihtijaj, al-Tabrisi; Islamic Laws, Ayatullah al-Sistani, rulings on taqlid.

Taharat: water, najis things and how they become pak

الطَّهَارَة

طہارت: پانی، نجاسات اور مطہرات

Namaz is not valid without purity. The body and clothes of the person praying must be pak, and wudu or ghusl must be done with pak water. Most of the questions adults ask about purity come down to three things: what kind of water is this, is this thing najis, and how do I make it pak again?

Kinds of water

Mutlaq water is plain water: from the tap, a river, the sea, a well or rain. Mudaf water is a liquid made from something, such as juice or rose water, or water so mixed with something that it is no longer called water. Mudaf water cannot be used for wudu or ghusl, and it does not make najis things pak.

Mutlaq water is either kurr, a large amount of about 384 litres, or qalil, less than that. Qalil water becomes najis as soon as a najis thing touches it. Kurr water, running water, rain while it is falling and tap water connected to the mains only become najis if the colour, smell or taste of the najasat appears in them. This is why washing under a running tap is so much easier than washing in a bowl.

The najis things

Islamic Laws lists these as najis in themselves: urine and faeces of humans and of animals whose meat is haram and whose blood gushes out when cut, semen, a dead body of a human or of an animal whose blood gushes out, blood of humans and of such animals, the dog and pig that live on land, intoxicating liquids and beer, and the kafir as defined in the risalah. Ayatullah Sistani considers the People of the Book (Jews and Christians) pak, so a non-Muslim relative or colleague who is Christian or Jewish is not najis. The details of the last category matter for reverts and their families, so check them with your Marja; our guide for new Muslims covers family life with non-Muslim parents. Children learn this list in our Fiqh Jaffari book for kids.

The rule of taharat

You do not need to search or ask. Anything is pak unless you know for certain that it has become najis. A wet floor in a public toilet, a chair in a café, a seat on the bus: if you do not know that najasat touched it, it is pak. Doubting does not make anything najis. Many people suffer from waswas (obsessive doubt) about purity, and the rulings are deliberately simple to protect them from it.

The purifiers (mutahhirat)

Twelve things make najis things pak. The ones you will use most are:

• Water: the najasat is removed first, then the place is washed. A thing made najis by urine is washed twice with qalil water and once with kurr or tap water. Clothes and cloth are squeezed after washing with qalil water.
• Earth: the soles of the feet and of shoes become pak by walking on pak, dry earth, stone or similar ground until the najasat is gone.
• The sun: the ground, buildings and fixed things such as doors and trees become pak when the sun dries them directly, once the najasat itself is removed.
• Istihala: a najis thing that changes completely into something else, such as wood burned to ash, becomes pak.
• Islam: when a non-Muslim says the Shahadatayn, their body becomes pak.
• Disappearance of the najasat: the body of an animal, and the inside of the human mouth and nose, become pak simply when the najasat is gone.

A vessel licked by a dog is first rubbed with pak earth mixed with a little water, then washed twice with water. A vessel licked by a pig, or from which a pig has drunk, is washed seven times.

Sources: Tahdhib al-Ahkam; Islamic Laws, Ayatullah al-Sistani, rulings on water, najasat and the purifiers.

Wudu, ghusl and tayammum in detail

الْوُضُوءُ وَالْغُسْلُ وَالتَّيَمُّم

وضو، غسل اور تیمم

The steps of wudu are taught in our children's book. Here we look at the details adults ask about: how much must be washed, what makes wudu batil, which ghusls are wajib, and when tayammum takes their place.

Wudu: the details

The face is washed from the hairline to the end of the chin, and in width as far as the middle finger and thumb reach, always from the top downwards. The arms are washed from the elbow to the fingertips, right first, then left, again downwards. Then the front part of the head is wiped with the wetness left on the right hand, and the feet from the tips of the toes to the joint of the foot, with the wetness left on the hands. No new water is taken for wiping. The parts must be done in order and one after another, without so long a gap that the earlier parts dry.

Anything that stops water reaching the skin, such as nail polish or waterproof paint, must be removed before wudu. Ordinary henna colour is not a barrier, because it is only a colour.

What makes wudu batil

• Passing urine, faeces or wind.
• Sleep that overcomes both hearing and sight.
• Anything that takes away the mind, such as fainting, intoxication or madness.
• Istihadha in women.
• Anything that makes ghusl wajib, such as janabat.

Bleeding, vomiting, laughing and touching one's spouse do not break wudu in Fiqh Jaffari.

Ghusl: which are wajib?

The main wajib ghusls are the ghusl of janabat; for women, of hayd, nifas and certain kinds of istihadha; the ghusl of mass al-mayyit, for touching a dead human body after it has become cold and before its ghusl is complete; and the ghusl given to the dead person. Ghusl may be done in two ways. In tartibi ghusl you make the niyyah, wash the head and neck, then the right half of the body, then the left. In irtimasi ghusl the whole body is put under water in one go, with the niyyah. The ghusl of janabat is enough for Namaz without wudu. For other ghusls, check your Marja's ruling on whether wudu is also needed.

Tayammum: when and how

Tayammum is done instead of wudu or ghusl when you cannot get enough water, when using water would harm you, when the water is needed to save yourself or another from thirst, or when there is so little time that wudu or ghusl would make you miss the prayer. It is done on pak earth, sand, clay or stone.

• Make the niyyah, for example: tayammum instead of wudu, qurbatan ilallah.
• Strike both palms on the earth together.
• Wipe the forehead with both palms, from the hairline down to the eyebrows and the top of the nose.
• Wipe the back of the right hand with the left palm, then the back of the left hand with the right palm.

Ayatullah Sistani advises, as a precaution, striking the earth a second time before wiping the hands. Once the excuse ends, for example water becomes available, the tayammum is batil and you must do wudu or ghusl for later prayers.

Case: a plaster on the arm

Ali has a bandage on a cut on his forearm that he must not get wet. He does jabirah wudu: he washes everything around the bandage as normal, and wipes his wet hand over the bandage itself. The bandage must be pak. If it is not, he puts a pak cloth over it and wipes on that.

Sources: the Holy Quran; Islamic Laws, Ayatullah al-Sistani, rulings on wudu, jabirah, ghusl and tayammum.

Namaz cases: doubts, mistakes and Qada prayers

الشُّكُوكُ وَالسَّهْوُ وَالْقَضَاء

نماز میں شک، بھول اور قضا

Everyone has doubts and makes mistakes in prayer. Allah has given clear ways to deal with them, so that one never has to guess or walk away feeling the prayer was wasted. The full lists of doubts and of Sajdah al-Sahw are in the chapter on doubts in our Namaz book. Here we apply them to real cases.

Four doubts to ignore

• After the place has passed: you are in sajdah and wonder whether you did ruku. Ignore it and carry on.
• After salam: you finished the prayer and then doubt whether it was correct. It is correct.
• After the time has passed: you doubt whether you prayed Zuhr once the time of Zuhr and Asr has ended. You do not pray it.
• Kathir al-shakk: someone who doubts very often ignores the doubt and assumes whatever keeps the prayer valid.

Case 1: Isha, “was that three or four?”

Zainab is sitting after a sajdah in Isha and cannot tell whether this is the third or fourth rak'ah. A doubt between 3 and 4 is valid at any point of a 4-rak'ah prayer. She takes it as four, completes the prayer with tashahhud and salam, and then, without a break, prays Salat al-Ihtiyat: one rak'ah standing, or two rak'ahs sitting. If the prayer really had only three rak'ahs, the Ihtiyat completes it. If it had four, the Ihtiyat counts as a nafilah.

Case 2: Maghrib, “second or third?”

Ahmad doubts in Maghrib whether he is in the second or third rak'ah. In a 2- or 3-rak'ah prayer, any doubt in the number of rak'ahs makes the prayer batil, as long as the doubt stays after thinking for a moment. He first thinks; if he becomes sure or reaches a strong likelihood, he acts on it. If the doubt remains, he breaks the prayer and prays Maghrib again.

Case 3: “I spoke during the prayer by mistake”

Fatima's phone rang and, forgetting she was praying, she said “one minute”. Talking by mistake does not make the prayer batil. She completes it, and afterwards performs two Sajdah al-Sahw. The same is done when one says salam in the wrong place by mistake, or forgets one sajdah or the tashahhud and remembers too late to go back, among other cases. A forgotten single sajdah is also made up after the prayer.

Qada: making up missed prayers

A wajib prayer missed for any reason must be made up as Qada. Qada can be prayed at any time of day or night, and it is prayed as it was missed: a prayer missed while travelling is made up as qasr, even at home. Order is needed only between Zuhr and Asr, or Maghrib and Isha, of the same day. A person with years of missed prayers can make a sensible plan, for example one extra day of Qada with each day's prayers, and should not delay without reason. After a father dies, his eldest son must make up the prayers and fasts his father missed for a reason, on the details given in the risalah.

Sources: the Holy Quran; Islamic Laws, Ayatullah al-Sistani, rulings on doubts, Sajdah al-Sahw and Qada prayers.

Prayer away from home: university, work trips and holidays

صَلَاةُ الْمُسَافِر

مسافر کی نماز: تعلیم، ملازمت اور سفر

A traveller prays the 4-rak'ah prayers as two rak'ahs (qasr) once the journey meets its conditions. These conditions, and the hadd al-tarakhkhus, are set out in our chapter on the traveller's prayer. Adult life raises harder questions: what about a student who lives in another city, someone whose job is travelling, or a family on holiday?

Watan: what counts as home?

Your watan (hometown) is where you pray full prayers whatever the length of your stay. It is the place you were born and grew up in, as long as you have not turned away from it, or a place you have chosen to live in permanently or for a long time, so that people would say you live there. A person can have more than one watan. Moving abroad and deciding never to return to the old town means it is no longer your watan.

Case 1: a student at university

Hassan lives with his parents in Birmingham and studies in Manchester, more than 44 km away, for three years. When he settles in Manchester to live there for his studies for a long period, Manchester can count as his watan for that time, and he prays full there. Back home in Birmingham he also prays full. On the journey between the two, he prays qasr. Because the rules on a temporary watan have fine details, students should confirm their own situation with their Marja's office.

Case 2: someone whose work is travel

A driver, pilot or salesman whose work is travelling, or someone who travels very often for work, prays full prayers and fasts on those work journeys, according to conditions explained in the risalah. A person who only travels for work now and then is like any other traveller and prays qasr.

Case 3: a family holiday

The Rizvi family drives 300 km to the coast for a week. On the road and at the hotel they pray qasr, because they have not intended to stay ten days. Had they intended to stay ten days or more in one place, they would pray full from the start. If a traveller stays in one place undecided, saying “today or tomorrow”, for thirty days, he prays full from the thirty-first day onwards.

Four places of choice

In Masjid al-Haram in Makkah, the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, Masjid al-Kufa and the shrine of Imam Husain (A.S.) in Karbala, a traveller may choose to pray full or qasr. The risalah explains how far these places extend. Praying full there is better.

Prayers missed on the road

A prayer that falls due while travelling and is missed is made up as qasr, even at home. One that was due at home and is missed is made up in full, even on a journey.

Sources: the Holy Quran; Islamic Laws, Ayatullah al-Sistani, rulings on the prayer of a traveller.

Fasting cases: long summer days, work, illness and Qada

مَسَائِلُ الصَّوْم

روزے کے مسائل: لمبے دن، ملازمت، بیماری اور قضا

What breaks a fast, and the full rules of Qada, Kaffarah and Fidyah, are explained in our Namaz and Roza book. In the West, adults face questions that are less often answered: very long days, demanding jobs, exams, medicines and pregnancy.

Case 1: an eighteen-hour summer fast

In northern Europe and Canada a summer fast can last eighteen hours or more. The fast is still wajib, from true dawn to Maghrib in your own city. If, on a particular day, fasting becomes so hard that it cannot be borne, you may eat or drink only as much as you need, and make up that day later. Long hours alone do not remove the duty; unbearable hardship does.

Case 2: work and exams

A demanding job or an exam is not by itself a reason not to fast. Plan instead: a nourishing sehri, rest at midday where possible, and leave where it can be taken. Someone whose work, such as heavy outdoor labour in the heat, truly causes unbearable hardship while fasting should ask the Marja's office about his own situation.

Case 3: illness and medicine

A person who knows, or reasonably fears, that fasting will make them ill, make an illness worse or slow recovery must not fast, and makes the days up later. A doctor's advice can be the basis of that fear. If the illness continues until the next Ramadan, the missed fasts are not made up; instead one mudd of food is given for each day. Injections that are not nourishment do not break the fast.

Case 4: pregnancy and breastfeeding

A pregnant woman close to giving birth, or a mother breastfeeding with little milk, whose fasting would harm herself or her child, does not fast. She makes up the days later. In some of these cases she must also give a mudd of food for each day; her Marja's book sets out which.

Case 5: years of missed fasts

Omar did not fast for several years when he was young. Each missed fast must be made up. For fasts he broke deliberately without an excuse, Kaffarah is also due: sixty days of fasting, thirty-one of them in a row, or feeding sixty poor people. If someone missed fasts for an excuse and delayed the Qada until the next Ramadan without a good reason, he also gives one mudd for each day.

Sources: the Holy Quran; Islamic Laws, Ayatullah al-Sistani, rulings on fasting, Qada, Kaffarah and Fidyah.

Khums made simple, with worked examples

الْخُمُس

خمس: آسان مثالوں کے ساتھ

Khums is a duty of wealth that most Shia adults in the West have to work out every year, yet many find it confusing. It is easier than it looks. The most common kind is Khums on what is left over from your income at the end of the year, after you have paid for your living.

What is Khums due on?

Islamic Laws lists seven things on which Khums is due. For most people only the first matters: the surplus of yearly income, from salary, business, rent or any earning, that remains after the year's living expenses. The others are minerals, treasure, halal wealth mixed with haram, gems obtained by diving, spoils of war, and land a dhimmi buys from a Muslim. An inheritance from an expected source is not liable to Khums. Gifts and prizes that are left over at the end of the year may be, so check your Marja's ruling.

Your Khums year

For someone with a job, the Khums year begins on the day they first receive income. Choose that date, write it down, and on the same date each year work out your Khums. Paying a little every month does not change the calculation; you still check the total at year end.

What counts as expenses?

Anything you spent during the year on your needs, at a level suited to your position, is not liable: food, rent or mortgage payments, bills, clothes, a car you use, gifts, travel, Hajj or Ziyarat, charity. What remains is liable: money in the bank, cash, investments, and household items bought from that year's income but still unused at year end, such as stored food.

Where does Khums go?

Khums is divided into two halves. The Sahm al-Imam belongs to Imam al-Mahdi (A.T.F.S.), and in his occultation it is given to the Marja you follow or his authorised representative, who spends it as the Imam would be pleased, such as on seminaries, mosques and the needy. The Sahm al-Sadat is for poor Sayyids who are believers. Always get a receipt from an authorised office. You can try the calculator on the practice page of this book.

Sources: the Holy Quran; Usul al-Kafi; Islamic Laws, Ayatullah al-Sistani, rulings on Khums.

Zakat and Zakat al-Fitrah

الزَّكَاةُ وَزَكَاةُ الْفِطْرَة

زکات اور فطرہ

Zakat is one of the ten Furoo-e-Deen and is mentioned with Namaz many times in the Quran. In Fiqh Jaffari it is due on a fixed list of things, so many families living in cities on a salary will not owe Zakat on their wealth. Almost every household does owe Zakat al-Fitrah at the end of Ramadan.

The nine things

• Four crops: wheat, barley, dates and raisins.
• Two metals: gold and silver, when they are coins in circulation as money.
• Three kinds of livestock: camels, cows and sheep (including goats).

Each has a minimum amount (nisab) below which no Zakat is due. On gold and silver coins that reach the nisab and are held for eleven months and then into the twelfth, the Zakat is one fortieth, 2.5%. On the four crops, it is one tenth if watered by rain or rivers, and one twentieth if watered by hand or machine. Gold jewellery that is worn, and paper money, are not on the list, although Khums may be due on savings. The exact nisab amounts are in the risalah.

Who receives Zakat?

Zakat al-Fitrah

On the night of Eid al-Fitr, an adult who is sane and not poor must give Fitrah for himself and for everyone who counts as eating at his table: his wife, his children, and even a guest who arrives before Maghrib on the eve of Eid and stays. For each person it is about 3 kg of the usual staple food of the area, such as wheat, rice or dates, or its price.

• When: from the night of Eid until the Eid prayer, or until Zuhr for those who do not pray it. If you set it aside within that time, you may give it later to a deserving person.
• To whom: poor believers. A Sayyid may not receive Fitrah from a non-Sayyid.
• Niyyah: it is an act of worship, so it is given qurbatan ilallah.

The rules for travellers and guests are also covered in our fasting chapter on Fitrah.

Sources: the Holy Quran; Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih; Islamic Laws, Ayatullah al-Sistani, rulings on Zakat and Zakat al-Fitrah.

Halal food and eating out in the West

الْأَطْعِمَةُ وَالْأَشْرِبَة

حلال غذا اور مغرب میں باہر کھانا

Food is not only about health in Islam; what we eat affects our heart and our worship. Living in a non-Muslim country means reading labels, asking questions and knowing a few clear rules.

When is meat halal?

The animal must be of a kind whose meat is halal, such as sheep, goats, cows, camels and chicken. It must be slaughtered while alive by a Muslim, with a blade of iron (steel counts), with its front facing the Qibla, while the name of Allah is said, and the four main vessels of the neck must be cut, with the blood flowing normally afterwards. Meat that does not meet these conditions is haram to eat, and meat from an animal that died without being slaughtered is also najis.

Buying meat in the West

Meat bought from a non-Muslim, or in a non-Muslim market, may not be eaten unless you know it was slaughtered by Islamic rules. Meat bought from a Muslim who presents it as halal may be eaten, unless you know he took it from a non-Muslim without checking. This is why many families use trusted halal butchers and ask how the animals are slaughtered.

Fish and seafood

A fish is halal if it has scales and it was caught alive and died out of the water. Salmon, cod, tuna, haddock and sardines have scales. Fish without scales, such as catfish, are haram. Prawns and shrimps are halal. Crabs, lobsters, mussels, oysters and squid are haram.

Alcohol and hidden ingredients

Drinking alcohol is haram in any amount, and intoxicating liquids are najis. Ayatullah Sistani rules that one must not eat at a table where alcohol is being drunk. For ingredients such as gelatine, rennet and flavourings made with alcohol, the rulings depend on how they are made, so check your Marja's answers, and choose products marked halal by a body you trust.

Case: lunch with colleagues

Yusuf's team goes to an ordinary restaurant. The meat is not halal, so he orders a vegetarian dish or fish with scales. He does not need to ask whether the kitchen is pak; food is pak unless he knows it touched something najis, such as pork or wine. If he learns that his vegetables were fried in the same oil as bacon, then he knows, and he does not eat them.

Sources: the Holy Quran; Furu' al-Kafi; Islamic Laws, Ayatullah al-Sistani, rulings on slaughter, food and drink.

Marriage: the Nikah, the Mahr and family life

النِّكَاح

نکاح، مہر اور خاندانی زندگی

Marriage is a sunnah of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.W.) and the foundation of the family. In Fiqh Jaffari it is a contract between two people, made with clear words, free consent and a Mahr.

The Nikah contract

The Nikah is made by an offer from the bride, or her representative, and an acceptance from the groom, or his representative. According to Ayatullah Sistani, the formula should be recited in correct Arabic by those able to do so; usually a scholar recites it as the representative of both sides. Both the bride and the groom must truly agree; a marriage forced on either is not valid. A bride who has not been married before needs the permission of her father or paternal grandfather, as the risalah explains. Witnesses are recommended but not a condition of the Nikah. Civil registration, which the law of many countries requires, is a separate step that protects both spouses.

The Mahr

The Mahr is a gift the groom gives to the bride, agreed before the Nikah. It belongs to her alone, and no one, not even her parents, may take it without her consent. It can be money, gold, property or something of value, and it should be within the groom's means. Khums is not due on the Mahr.

Who can marry whom

• A Muslim woman may marry only a Muslim man.
• A Muslim man may not marry a woman who is not Muslim and not from the People of the Book. The details for Christian and Jewish women are in the risalah.
• Close relatives, the mahram, such as parents, children, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, and certain in-laws and milk relatives, can never be married.

Temporary marriage

Fiqh Jaffari also recognises temporary marriage (mut'ah), which was permitted in the time of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.W.). It needs the same free consent, a fixed term and a Mahr, and a waiting period (iddah) after it ends. A child born of it has every right of any child. It is a serious contract and is not entered into lightly; its conditions are set out in the risalah.

Rights in family life

The husband must provide for his wife's maintenance (nafaqah): food, clothing, housing and her needs, at a fitting level. Both are to live together with kindness, as the verse says, “with love and mercy”. Parents are to raise their children with good names, good manners and the knowledge of their faith.

Sources: the Holy Quran; Man La Yahduruhu al-Faqih; Islamic Laws, Ayatullah al-Sistani, rulings on marriage.

When someone dies: Ghusl, Kafan, Namaz al-Mayyit and burial

أَحْكَامُ الْأَمْوَات

میت کے احکام: غسل، کفن، نماز اور تدفین

The death of a loved one is a time of grief, and families in the West often have to arrange everything quickly with hospitals and funeral services. Knowing the duties beforehand makes it easier. Preparing a Muslim for burial is wajib kifa'i: a duty on all Muslims, which is fulfilled when some of them carry it out.

At the time of death

As death approaches, the dying person is laid on their back with the soles of the feet towards the Qibla, so that if they sat up they would face it. It is recommended to help them say the Shahadatayn and the names of the twelve Imams (A.S.), and to recite Surah Yasin and Surah al-Saffat. After death, the eyes and mouth are gently closed, the body is covered, and the family is told.

The Ghusl of the Mayyit

The body is given three ghusls, each done like a tartibi ghusl: first with water mixed with a little sidr (lote leaves), then with water mixed with a little kafur (camphor), then with plain water. The person giving it makes the niyyah and should be of the same sex as the deceased, or the spouse; the risalah gives the cases where a mahram relative may do it. Anyone who touches the body after it has become cold and before the three ghusls are complete must do the ghusl of mass al-mayyit.

Hunut and the Kafan

After the ghusl, camphor is applied to the seven places of sajdah: the forehead, both palms, both knees and both big toes. This is hunut. The body is then wrapped in the kafan of three pieces: a waist cloth, a long shirt, and a full sheet that covers the whole body.

Namaz al-Mayyit

The funeral prayer is said standing, facing the Qibla, with the body in front, its head to the right of the person praying. It has five takbirs and no ruku, sajdah or salam:

Wudu is not a condition for this prayer, though it is recommended.

Burial

The body is laid in the grave on its right side, with the face and front of the body towards the Qibla. A Muslim is buried in the ground; cremation is not permitted. On the first night after burial, family and friends pray Salat al-Wahshah, two rak'ahs: in the first, Surah al-Fatiha and Ayat al-Kursi; in the second, Surah al-Fatiha and Surah al-Qadr ten times; then they send blessings on the Holy Prophet and his family and ask Allah to send its reward to the grave of the deceased.

Sources: the Holy Quran; Islamic Laws, Ayatullah al-Sistani, rulings on the dying, ghusl, kafan, prayer and burial of the dead.