Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

494 Financial and judiciary institlrtions at the time of 'Ali
people in offering the Eid prayer in the mosque, and he led the people
in prayer in the desert outside the city. This was not done previously,
but 'Ali (&) was one of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and the
Prophet (g) said: "Adhere to my Sunnah and the way of the Rightly
Guided caliphs after me."92 The one who adheres to the way of the
Rightly Guided Caliphs has obeyed Allah (g) and His ~ essen~er.~~
7. A man washing his wife (after she has died)
It is permissible for a man to wash his wife to prepare her for
burial, according to 'Ali (&), and he washed his wife Fgtimah (may
Allah be pleased with them both).94 It was narrated that Asma' bint
'Umays said: "Fitimah left instructions that when she died, no one
was to wash her except 'Ali (&) and me, so 'Ali and I washed
her."95 It is also narrated that there was consensus among the
Companions on that, because that was well known among them, and
no one objected to it?6 This was also the view of the majority of
scholars, and the evidence for that is the words of the Messenger of
Allah (g) to 'kishah (r&,): "It will not matter if you die before me,
for I will take care of you, wash yon, shroud you, offer the funeral
prayer for you and bury you."97
8. The shroud is to be paid for from
the wealth of the deceased
The costs of shrouding the deceased are to be taken from his
capital if he had any capital, according to 'Ali (4$d).98 It was narrated
from Abdullah ibn ad-Dnmayrah from his father from his grandfather
that 'Ali (&) said: "The shroud is to be paid for from the capital (of
the de~eased)."~~ The proof is that when Mus'ab ihn 'Umayr was
killed on the day of Ul.~ud, "We (the Companions) could not find
anything with which to shroud him except a woolen clo& which, if
we put it on his head, his feet showed, and if we put it over his feet,
his head showed. The Messenger of Allah (B) said: 'Put it over his
.1.100
head, and put some (of a certain kind of) grass on his feet. The