How many pieces of cloth for the deceased?

Question

The imam of a village tells the villagers that when shrouding a deceased male, the pieces of cloth to be given to the deceased are these: the lifafa, the izar and the shroud shirt; and he says that if they give more than this they will be sinners. Likewise, for shrouding a woman he states five pieces of cloth and says that giving more than this is a sin.

Answer

Three pieces of cloth are sunna in a man’s shroud: two sheets and one shirt (qamis); one sheet is called the izar and the other the lifafa. Giving cloth beyond this in the shroud is not sunna. In a woman’s shroud there are two additional pieces: one is the khimar, in which her hair is covered, and the other is the breast-binder.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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