Is it permissible for a man to bury his wife and to place her in the niche (lahd)?

It is permissible for a man to bury his wife and enter her into the lahd (niche in the grave), and indeed, according to the Shafi'is, he has a greater right to do so. The majority of scholars hold that the people with the most right to bury a woman are her closest mahram relatives, then her husband. It is also permissible for non-mahram men to bury a woman. The permissibility of a man burying his wife is supported by the Prophet's saying to Aisha: "What would harm you if you died before me, and I took charge of you, washed you, shrouded you, prayed over you, and buried you?"