WE RELATE FROM the Ṣaḥīḥ of al-Bukhārī that ‘Ā’ishah reported: “I came to Abū Bakr while he was sick. He asked: ‘In how many sheets did you bury the Prophet ?’ I said: ‘In three pieces of cloth.’ He asked: ‘On what day did the Messenger of Allah pass away?’ She replied: ‘On a Monday.’ He asked: ‘What day is it today?’ She said: ‘Monday.’ He said: ‘I hope it will be between now and tonight.’ He looked at the robe that he was wearing during his illness and it had a saffron stain. He said: ‘Wash it, add two more pieces of cloth to it, and bury me in it.’ I said: ‘This is worn.’ He replied: ‘The living are more entitled to the new than the dead; it is only because of the pus that flows from the body of the deceased.’ He did not pass away until the evening began of the night [preceding] Tuesday; and he was buried before the morning.” [1].
[1] Al-Bukhārī (1387), al-Muwaṭṭa’ (1/224), and Fatḥ al-Bārī (3/254). Ibn Ḥajar states that this hadith shows that it is recommended to shroud the deceased in three white cloths. It also indicates the virtue of Abū Bakr, the accuracy of his foresight (firāsah), and his steadfastness at the time of his death.
reported: “I came to Abū Bakr 
while he was sick. He asked: ‘In how many sheets did you bury the Prophet 
?’ I said: ‘In three pieces of cloth.’ He asked: ‘On what day did the Messenger of Allah