Muwatta Malik 525
موطأ مالك#525Sahihوَحَدَّثَنِي عَنْ مَالِكٍ، عَنْ يَحْيَى بْنِ سَعِيدٍ، أَنَّهُ قَالَ بَلَغَنِي أَنَّ أَبَا بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيقَ، قَالَ لِعَائِشَةَ وَهُوَ مَرِيضٌ فِي كَمْ كُفِّنَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَقَالَتْ فِي ثَلاَثَةِ أَثْوَابٍ بِيضٍ سَحُولِيَّةٍ . فَقَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ خُذُوا هَذَا الثَّوْبَ - لِثَوْبٍ عَلَيْهِ قَدْ أَصَابَهُ مِشْقٌ أَوْ زَعْفَرَانٌ - فَاغْسِلُوهُ ثُمَّ كَفِّنُونِي فِيهِ مَعَ ثَوْبَيْنِ آخَرَيْنِ . فَقَالَتْ عَائِشَةُ وَمَا هَذَا فَقَالَ أَبُو بَكْرٍ الْحَىُّ أَحْوَجُ إِلَى الْجَدِيدِ مِنَ الْمَيِّتِ وَإِنَّمَا هَذَا لِلْمُهْلَةِ .
Yahya related to me from Malik that Yahya ibn Said said that he had heard that when Abu Bakr as-Siddiq was ill he asked A'isha, "How many shrouds did the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, have?" and she replied, "Three pure white cotton garments." Abu Bakr said, "Take this garment (a garment he was wearing on which red clay or saffron had fallen) and wash it. Then shroud me in it with two other garments." A'isha said, "Why's that?", and Abu Bakr replied, "The living have greater need of the new than the dead. This is only for the body fluids that come out as the body decays
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. Each scholar's own wording:
In-book reference: 16:6