A man doing ghusl for a woman from among his mahrams other than his wife

Praise be to Allah.

It is not permissible for a man to wash any female other than his wife, whether they are his mahrams or not, apart from young girls who die before the age of seven years, in which case he may wash her. On this basis, if a woman were to die among men, and she does not have a husband and there are no women present, tayammum should be done for her, instead of wudoo’ and ghusl, with the purpose of protecting her ‘awrah. For usually the one who does ghusl for the deceased, even if he just pours water over the body, is bound to look at part of the ‘awrah and turn the body over so that he can pour water over the entire body. So if tayammum is done for a woman who has died and has only men around her, that will be on the safe side with regard to protecting her ‘awrah. With regard to a man doing ghusl for his slave woman, the same rulings apply as in the case of his wife, if he owned her according to sharee’ah and she was permissible for him, i.e., she was not married to another man and was not within the ‘iddah period (following divorce or death of her husband) at the time of her death.

And Allaah is the Source of strength. May Allaah bless our  Prophet Muhammad and his family and companions.