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closed by pulling his big toe. While closing the eyes, the following
supplication is made: O, Allah! make his/her affair light for
him/her, and render easy what he/she is going to face after this,
and bless him/her with Your Vision, and make his/her new abode
better for him/her than the one he/she has left behind.

After the eyes are closed, the jaws are bound so as not to sag,
and an iron object, no more than two inches in diameter, is placed
upon the abdomen (stomach area) to keep it from becoming in-
flated. If possible, all the deceased person's joints should be loos-
ened by moving them occasionally to keep the body from becom-
ing stiff. This will facilitate its washing and shrouding. The spirit
and the body are the total of the human being. It is therefore for-
bidden in Al-Islam to break any part of the body of the deceased,
or to open the stomach. Prophet Muhammad said, "Breaking
the bone of the dead person is like breaking the bone of the living."

It is also forbidden to embalm the body, unless this procedure is
required by the laws of one's country. It is hated (makruh) to put