Al-Kafi · Hadith 3

The Book on Dying People · The Amount of Water Needed for Ghusl (bath) of a Deceased Person · Volume 3, book 3, chapter 23, Hadith 3

Original Arabic text

3ـ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى قَالَ كَتَبَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ الْحَسَنِ إِلَى أَبِي مُحَمَّدٍ (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) فِي الْمَاءِ الَّذِي يُغَسَّلُ بِهِ الْمَيِّتُ كَمْ حَدُّهُ فَوَقَّعَ (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) حَدُّ غُسْلِ الْمَيِّتِ يُغْسَلُ حَتَّى يَطْهُرَ إِنْ شَاءَ الله قَالَ وَكَتَبَ إِلَيْهِ هَلْ يَجُوزُ أَنْ يُغَسَّلَ الْمَيِّتُ وَمَاؤُهُ الَّذِي يُصَبُّ عَلَيْهِ يَدْخُلُ إِلَى بِئْرِ كَنِيفٍ أَوِ الرَّجُلُ يَتَوَضَّأُ وُضُوءَ الصَّلاَةِ أَنْ يُصَبَّ مَاءُ وُضُوئِهِ فِي كَنِيفٍ فَوَقَّعَ (عَلَيْهِ الْسَّلام) يَكُونُ ذَلِكَ فِي بَلاَلِيعَ.

Published English translation

3. Muhammad ibn Yahya has said that Muhammad ibn al-Hassan who has narrated the following: “I once wrote to abu Muhammad (a.s.), ‘How much water is needed for Ghusl (bath) of a deceased person?’ The answer came with the signature of the Imam, ‘The amount of water needed is to wash the dead body clean, by the will Allah.’ He (the narrator) has said that he wrote again to him (the Imam) asking, ‘Is it permissible to wash a deceased person where the water poured on him flows into the toilet or cesspool or if water with which one takes Wudu’ flows in the toilet?’ He (the Imam) wrote back to him with his signature, ‘It does end up in the toilet.’”

Narrator and transmission

See the transmission information preserved in the original source text.

Attributed scholarly assessments

Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: صحيح

Mirʾāt al-ʿUqūl fī Sharḥ Akhbār Āl al-Rasūl (3/323)

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Shaykh Baqir al-Behbudi: صحيح

Ṣaḥīḥ al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 233

Assessment transcribed from the source's named scholar and reference. No new grading or consensus is asserted; differing entries remain separate.

Source, rights, and attribution

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edition: Al-Kafi, volume 3, Thaqalayn digital edition / Muhammad Sarwar translation
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translator: Muhammad Sarwar
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