Dispute over the body of a woman carried in by a river

Question

The body of a woman came floating down a river. Where it was taken out, there is a quarrel between the two parties, Muslim and non-Muslim: one party says to bury her, the other says to burn her. Please tell us: how is this woman to be identified?

Answer

A Hindu woman’s clothing is distinctive, and there is also usually a tattoo mark somewhere on the body. If there is no sign of this kind, and the Muslims, regarding her as a Muslim, wash her, shroud her, perform the funeral prayer and bury her, they have the right [to do so]; but they should not engage in quarrelling and strife.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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