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For nurses, doctors, chaplains, mortuary and bereavement staffWhen a Muslim patient dies
Most Muslim families hope to wash, shroud, pray over and bury the person within a day or so. A few small things on the ward make that possible. Notes are marked for the US, the UK and Canada.
This is general guidance, not clinical policy. Follow your own trust, hospital or hospice policy, and ask the family: practice differs between families.
1In the first hour
Do
- Close the eyes and mouth, straighten the limbs and cover the body with a clean sheet.
Public Health England, Faith at end of life: a resource for professionals, providers and commissioners working in communities (January 2016), Islam: After death · Hospice UK, Care after death guidance, edition 5.2 (2025), personal care after death (procedure table)
- Many families ask for the body to be turned to face Makkah (the qiblah). Help if you can.
- Keep touching to a minimum, ideally by staff of the same sex as the patient.
- Leave religious items with the body and write them down.
Please don’t
- Don’t wash the body without asking. Hospice UK’s procedure starts with washing “unless requested not to do so for spiritual/religious/cultural reasons”, so ask first. The body is usually washed later by family or friends, or the masjid’s washers.
Hospice UK, Care after death guidance, edition 5.2 (2025), personal care after death (procedure table) · Public Health England, Faith at end of life: a resource for professionals, providers and commissioners working in communities (January 2016), Islam: After death
- Don’t shave the body. Some faith groups prohibit it.
- Don’t send the body to the mortuary unclothed.
United Kingdom
- If the death is being referred to the coroner, don’t wash the body, and leave cannulae and lines in place. For a forensic referral, keep contact to a minimum, leave all drains and tubes in, and don’t begin mouth care.
Hospice UK, Care after death guidance, edition 5.2 (2025), personal care after death (procedure table) · Hospice UK, Care after death guidance, edition 5.2 (2025), paras 54–55
United States
- Ask the medical examiner’s or coroner’s office what it needs.
- The Joint Commission’s 2010 roadmap for hospitals lists washing the body, moving it after death and letting people stay near it as matters to approach with sensitivity.
The Joint Commission, A Roadmap for Hospitals (2010), Chapter 4: End-of-Life Care
Canada
- Ask the medical examiner’s or coroner’s office what it needs.
2Releasing the body quickly
United Kingdom England and Wales
- Since 9 September 2024 a medical examiner reviews every death not referred to the coroner, and the death cannot be registered until the registrar hears from the medical examiner or coroner.
GOV.UK (DHSC), Death certification reform and the introduction of medical examiners · GOV.UK (DHSC), An overview of the death certification reforms
- National Medical Examiner guidance (2021): holding the body until the MCCD is complete “is not a legal requirement”, and teams can speak to the medical examiner before an expected death to prepare for release out of hours. Not for coroner cases, an unnatural death or an unknown cause; and the body cannot be buried before the death is registered.
National Medical Examiner’s Good Practice Series No. 2, How medical examiners can facilitate urgent release of a body (Dr Alan Fletcher; Royal College of Pathologists, April 2021) · National Medical Examiner’s Good Practice Series No. 2 (2021), Caveats
- Medical examiner hours differ. One trust reviews religious requests as a priority, and out of hours on the next working day. Check your own office’s hours.
- A coroner may prioritise a death for religious reasons and may not rule this out by policy, but there is no automatic priority.
Chief Coroner’s Guidance No. 28, Report of Death to the Coroner: Decision Making and Expedited Decisions (May 2018) · When to refer: The Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019, reg. 3
- Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems.
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Guide for bereaved family members · nidirect, Coroners, post-mortems and inquests
United States Every state
- State law sets the time for completing and filing the death certificate. Deliver it to the funeral director promptly; the cause can be filed as pending. Each state’s deadline is on its state page.
- If the medical examiner or coroner takes the case, release depends on that office. Ask it directly about timing.
- Don’t suggest embalming by default: no state law requires routine embalming.
Canada By province
- Ontario: registering a death needs a Medical Certificate of Death from the doctor or coroner, and the body cannot be buried until the required documents are obtained.
Government of Ontario, What to do when someone dies · Vital Statistics Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. V.4, s. 22 (Ontario e-Laws)
- Alberta: the Chief Medical Examiner’s office examines the vast majority of bodies within one working day of arrival, so they can be released for burial.
Government of Alberta, Office of the Chief Medical Examiner: overview
- Other provinces: see the Canada guide.
3Post-mortem and the family’s options
United Kingdom
- Families cannot object to a coroner’s post-mortem, but if they ask, the coroner must tell them when and where it will take place.
GOV.UK, What to do after someone dies: When a death is reported to a coroner
- Some coroners use CT or MRI scanning, on a limited basis; the coroner decides the kind of examination.
Chief Coroner’s Guidance No. 1, The use of Post-Mortem Imaging (Adults)
United States
- Some states let a relative object to an autopsy on religious grounds, with exceptions. Each state page says what applies there.
Canada
- In Ontario, coroners must consider the religious views of the deceased and the family when deciding whether a post-mortem is needed.
4Organ donation
United States
- The hospital must notify the organ procurement organisation (OPO) of deaths and imminent deaths. Only an OPO representative or a designated requestor approaches the family, with discretion and sensitivity to the family’s views and beliefs.
42 CFR 482.45(a), Condition of participation: Organ, tissue, and eye procurement
- If the patient registered as a donor in their state, that registration is their own permission to donate. If not, the family is told its options and may agree or decline.
HRSA, organdonor.gov, Frequently asked questions (archived 30 September 2026) · 42 CFR 482.45(a), Condition of participation: Organ, tissue, and eye procurement
United Kingdom
- In England, since 20 May 2020, most adults are considered donors unless they opted out, but the family is still consulted.
Canada
- Follow your hospital’s donation policy.
5The family at the bedside
- Let the family stay with the person, pray and recite the Qurʾān by the bed. You may hear the words “Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.”
The Joint Commission, A Roadmap for Hospitals (2010), Chapter 4: End-of-Life Care · Qurʾān, al-Baqarah 2:156
- Ask early, before death where you can, about a quick release, washing and donation. Call the chaplaincy for support.
Hospice UK, Care after death guidance, edition 5.2 (2025), para. 26 · The Joint Commission, Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient- and Family-Centered Care: A Roadmap for Hospitals (2010), quoting standard RI.01.01.01
- Be honest about times. If release cannot happen today, say why and when it can.
6Who to call
The family’s masjid funeral committee arranges the washing, the shroud, the prayer and the burial, often with a Muslim funeral home. If the family does not know who to call, find one in the directory or by city. Step-by-step guides for families: US, UK, Canada.
7Why speed matters
Last checked against its sources: October 2026. Every source is listed on the sources page. Something wrong? Tell us