Chapter on the Prayer over the Dead

Sa’ad ibn Abdillah from Muhammad ibn al-Husayn from Muhammad ibn Aslam from a man from the people of al-Jazirah who said: I said to Abu al-Hasan Imam al-Ridha عليه السلام: “A group was shipwrecked in the sea, and they came out walking along the shore, and suddenly they came upon a dead man; naked. However, the group had nothing on them except towels which they had wrapped around their waists, and they did not have any extra cloth to cover (shroud) the man. So how should they pray over him while he is naked?” Imam عليه السلام said: “If they are not able to find a cloth with which to cover his private parts, then they should dig his grave and place him in its lahd (grave niche), and cover his private parts with bricks (libn), or stones, or with soil. Then they should perform the prayer (Salat Al Mayyit) over him, then they should bury him in his grave.” I asked: “Should they not pray over him while he is buried, after he has been buried?” Imam عليه السلام said: “No. If that had been permissible for anyone, it would have been permissible for the Messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى. So the prayer is not performed over someone already buried, nor over someone who is naked.”