The lawyer who washes dead bodies

SITI Rasidah Abd Radzaz says she has never seen or experienced anything spooky while washing bodies of dead Muslims.

SITI Rasidah Abd Radzaz, 34, washes bodies of dead Muslims to prepare them for burial.

Siti Rasidah says she has bathed about 1,000 bodies, ranging from babies to adults over the years.

But this is not her career; this is not her full-time job. Siti Rasidah is a lawyer by profession.

According to a report in The Sun daily, she used to follow her mother, who worked with the Johor Islamic Religious Council, to assist in funeral processions for Muslim women after completing her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination.

“I started following my mom when I was around 17 years old,” she told The Sun. Today, she has become a Muslim burial expert.

She often posts tips on how to conduct Islamic funeral customs and rituals on Facebook, with a recent post on how to cut “kain kapan”.

Siti said many people were reluctant to bathe dead bodies if the deceased was not part of their family, and that by sharing information she hoped to change this attitude.

She said she had never experienced any spooky incidents while or after bathing dead bodies.

“Maybe it’s because my intention when I handle the bodies is to help and contribute back to society. Furthermore, bathing the corpses is part of “fardu kifayah” in Islam,” she was quoted as saying by The Sun.

Siti was a deputy public prosecutor in Johor from 2008 to 2015. She is now a partner in a law firm. -FMT