It is noteworthy that matters related to a person approaching death are discussed in works of jurisprudence concerning the burial rituals (for example, see al-Ṭūsī, 1/681; Ibn Rushd, 1/225–226; cf. al-Shahīd al-Thānī, 1/400).

The earliest burial mentioned in the Qurʾān is in sūra 5, when God reveals to Cain the way to bury the body of Abel whom he has murdered (Q 5:31). The custom of burying the dead is common to the other Abrahamic religions (see Deuteronomy 34:6, where God buries Moses in the land of Moab, and John 19:38–42). Some sou…