What is the procedure if a man dies among unrelated women, or a woman dies among unrelated men, or an ambiguous individual (khuntha mushkal) dies, and no one of the same sex is available to wash them?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Funerals
Primary text
If a man dies among unrelated women, or a woman dies among unrelated men, or an ambiguous individual dies, Tayammum (dry ablution) is performed instead of Ghusl (ritual washing). This is the position of Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib, Al-Nakha'i, Hammad, Malik, the Ashab al-Ra'y, and Ibn al-Mundhir. The evidence for this is the hadith narrated by Tamam al-Razzi in his 'Fawa'id' from Mak'hul from Wathilah, where the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: 'If a woman dies among men, with no mahram between them, she performs Tayammum as men perform Tayammum.' Furthermore, washing without physical contact does not achieve purification or remove impurity, and may lead to the necessity of gazing, making a turn to Tayammum preferable, similar to the situation when water is unavailable.
Supporting text
Abu Al-Khattab narrated a second opinion, attributed also to Al-Hasan and Ishaq, that washing should be performed over the shirt (Qamees), pouring water over it without touching the body.