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Fatwa CenterWashing corpse of AIDS victim
Question
According to Islaam, is it necessary to wash the corpse of the AIDS victims? And if it is necessary, how to wash, any special precautions needed? Can we treat the AIDS victim's dead body as highly infectious? If not necessary, then how to handle the dead body?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.
If the deceased is a Muslim, then it is an obligation for one of the Muslims to wash him, shroud him, pray on him and then bury him. For the method of washing the deceased, please refer to Fatwa: 84697. We do not know that AIDS is transmitted just by touching the body of the patient, rather it is transmitted by the blood, other body fluids, or by sexual intercourse. Knowing that this is the case, then the disease is not contagious by other means other than those mentioned. Anyway, to protect oneself from this kind of disease if it is contagious, one has to consult doctors as it is among their speciality. If it is absolutely impossible to wash him because of the seriousness of the disease, then in this case one has to perform Tayammum on him by striking dust once then wiping the face and the palms of the deceased.
Allaah knows best.
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