What is the ruling on burying a deceased person—whose body arrived in a sealed coffin from another country after he died in a car accident, and the authorities there refused to open the coffin—when it is unknown whether he was washed or not?

Washing the deceased, shrouding them, and burying them is obligatory. If someone is buried without being washed or shrouded, their grave must be exhumed so they can be washed and shrouded, as long as their body has not decomposed. If it is unknown whether the deceased was washed and shrouded, it is not permissible to bury them without washing them, even if the responsible authority prevents it, because there is no obedience to a creature in disobedience to the Creator. The sin falls away from others if they are forced to bury them. If it is known that they were washed in the country where they died, they should be buried and not re-washed, even if the washer was a non-Muslim, because the purpose of washing is cleanliness, and it does not depend on the intention of the washer.