Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Assalam wa aleikum,

Dear Brother, i would like to ask you the reason behind the white colour of burial shroud with reference to the QURAN and Hadiths. While the kafan colour for Hussain(r.a.) and Hasan(r.a) was kept red and green.

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Answer:

Why burial shroud is white

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

It is considered permissible in Shariah for the believers to enshroud their deceased in any color, but it is the preferred Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) to enshroud the dead in a white burial cloth; as the color white is the best loved color by Allah Subhanah.

Narrated Ibn Abbas that the Prophet (saws) said: "Wear white clothes, for these are your best clothes, and enshroud your dead in them."

Related by Ahmad, Abu Daw'ud, and Tirmidhi

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 4382 Narrated by Abud Darda'

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "The best thing in which to visit Allah in your graves and in your mosques is in white."

Your Statement: ….While the kafan colour for Hussain(r.a.) and Hasan(r.a) was kept red and green.

It is recorded in authentic narrations that the burial shroud of the Messenger of Allah (saws) was white.

To the best of our knowledge we have not come across any authentic narration which states that the burial shroud of Hadrat Hasan (r.a.) and Hadrat Hussein (r.a.) was red or green; but if indeed it was a color other than white, there is absolutely no harm. And Allah Alone Knows Best.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan