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What is the ruling on studying human bones in the Faculty of Medicine, and is ablution (wudu') required after touching them?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The fundamental principle is to respect a Muslim, both alive and dead, and the obligation to bury them, as this is part of Allah’s honoring of the Children of Adam.

It is permissible to dissect the bodies of non-protected disbelievers (the warring disbeliever and the apostate) out of necessity for the benefit of the living. As for the body and bones of a Muslim, they must be buried, and it is not permissible to retain them for examination and study; an alternative should be sought for that.

Touching a corpse or bones does not invalidate ablution (Wudu'). However, scholars differed on whether washing the deceased invalidates ablution.

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

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