Who has more right to wash a deceased man: his mother or his wife?

The wife has a greater right to wash her husband than his mother. Indeed, it is not permissible for the man's mother to wash him except in the absence of someone else to wash him, such as his wife or a man. The jurists differed on preferring the wife over the male agnates in washing. Some of them hold that she is not to be preferred, while others hold that she is. Some jurists are of the opinion that each spouse is more entitled to wash the other than all other agnates.