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Is it permissible for a menstruating woman or a woman in postpartum bleeding to attend and participate in the washing of the deceased? And is it permissible to apply henna and kohl to the deceased?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The Hanbali jurists mentioned the desirability of dyeing the hair of a deceased woman and the beard of a deceased man with henna, even if they were not gray-haired, citing the saying of Anas: "Do with your dead what you do with your brides." As for the Shafi'is, some of them believe that henna on the deceased is not legislated, and it may be forbidden for men and disliked for women and children. As for applying kohl to the eyes of the deceased, there is no evidence to indicate its permissibility, and it appears to be not legislated. What is mentioned in the Sunnah is washing the deceased with water and lotus leaves and embalming them with perfume.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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