The funeral prayer over a drowned woman whose body was damaged by animals and decomposed

Question

A woman drowned in the water. Because the river was large and the water abundant, the body was not found despite considerable effort. After four days, when the body came up, animals had damaged it, and such a stench had arisen that her preparation for burial and shrouding could not be carried out according to the rule of the Sacred Law. With the greatest difficulty she was lifted from there into a carriage and carried to the place of burial, the body of the deceased having by then been damaged and decomposed.

Answer

If some part of the deceased has been eaten and damaged by water animals, but half or most of the body is present, then water should be poured over it, it should be shrouded, and the funeral prayer performed; moreover, on whatever is possible in such a state — a wooden platform or a rope bed — the funeral prayer should be performed and the body buried.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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