Answering the Fallacious Claim of Necrophilia

Compiled, Translated & Annotated

Abu Khuzaimah Ansari

 

The ignorant people of other faiths, in their emotionally filled rants and outbursts against Islām allege the Messenger of Allah (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) slept with the body of Fātimah bint Asad RaḍiAllāhū ʿAnha based on the wording of this ḥadīth. Such horrible claims are often regurgitated by people who follow and believe in Christianity.

This is an outright lie and a desperate attempt to discredit Islām, such claims are often raised by people who have not read anything about Islām and rather just take some information from websites, who extend most of their efforts to concoct fallacious allegations against Islām.

This treacherous claim rests on the words  فاضطجع  They claim the word means to sleep, lay down ie he lay down with Fātimah bint Asad to have sex with her and this Arabic word is often used to denote to lie down and sleep with someone. We seek refuge in Allāh from such lies and aspersions. Āmīn

 

Answer

Firstly:  we have shown this ḥadīth is weak in the preceding discourse, but let’s assume for arguments sake that it was authentic, then;

Secondly: The word اضطجع means to lie, lie down, recline, repose and sleep according to the well known Arabic dictionaries. It does not mean to sleep or to lay down for sex. This is also the word the Christians use in their Arabic translation of the Bible. Hence, they say وَدَخَلَ أَلِيشَعُ الْبَيْتَ وَإِذَا بِالصَّبِيِّ مَيْتٌ وَمُضْطَجعٌ عَلَى سَرِيرِهِ. [And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. (2Kings 4:32) Kings James Version).

So one asks, does the word laid here also mean, ‘lay to have sex?’ Of course it does not! Then why is this meaning specified and restricted to the ḥadīth only.

Thirdly: the wording of the ḥadīth clearly mentions the Messenger of Allāh (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) entered the grave after it was dug and the body of Fātimah bint Asad RaḍiAllāhū ʿAnha had not been lowered into the grave. The Messenger of Allāh (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) lay in the grave after it was dug by his companions. The grave had a Laḥd, which is a horizontal opening in the vertically dug grave. The Messenger of Allāh (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) also dug the grave and the Laḥd after which he lay in it. Thereafter, he stood up and eventually the body was lowered into the grave.

It should therefore be noted; the body was lowered into the grave after he stood up – the body was not even in the grave when he was lying down in it! What kind of necrophilia was this? We presume the claimants can further shed some light on this matter, for the claimants are likely to know the reality and details of necrophilia the best, perhaps from experience in the modern Christian atheistic world, because surely one only accuses others of things they have experience, practice and knowledge about.  

So we ask again? How is the alleged incident even possible when the Messenger of Allāh (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) did not even lie next to the body, unless the detractors have developed other forms of sex!!! Again, this would not be surprising because this is what happens when you abandon your scriptures by distorting the divine message they contained.

The wording of the report further shows the great care and love the Messenger of Allāh (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) had for Fātimah bint Asad RaḍiAllāhū ʿAnha, the alleged wording says,

“When camphor water was brought, Allāh’s Messenger (Peace Be Upon Him) poured some water into his hands. Then Allāh’s Messenger (Peace Be Upon Him) took off his shirt and clothed her with it and used his own sheet of cloth as her coffin.”

This showed the love and care the Messenger of Allāh (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) had for her due to her status. The detractors show more affection and care for animals and dogs and regularly bathe them, how about Fātimah bint Asad RaḍiAllāhū ʿAnha, who was his paternal aunt and looked after him just like his mother! At what expense is the human mind and intelligence being carelessly wasted.

Fourthly: another indication which shows the futility of this repulsive allegation is the fact that the Messenger of Allāh (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) used his shirt and wrapped it around her and then used his own sheet of cloth as her coffin, the words are,

“Then Allāh’s Messenger (Peace Be Upon Him) took off his shirt and clothed her with it and used his own sheet of cloth as her coffin.”

Again, a sane, upright and normal human being asks, why would a person use their own shirt to wrap the corpse of his paternal aunt – a mother like figure, then use his own sheets as her coffin, then dig her grave with his own hands, then lie in her grave and supplicate to the creator to forgive and have mercy on her (allegedly as the ḥadīth is weak), then to have her lowered in the grave, then unfasten the coffin sheets and shirt and then indulge in necrophilia? Absolutely preposterous!   

We would like to exercise our common sense by using our brains and minds, given to us by our creator and ask, what were the other companions doing during this incident of necrophilia? Why do this in the grave and not on the ground if they were looking?

These people have no idea about the stature, uprightness and credibility of the illustrious companions, that they would allow someone to do such a heinous act in front of them. The companions were powerful, they were Ūsāmah bin Zayd, Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī, ʿUmar bin al-Khaṭṭāb and the Abyssinian companion, May Allāh be pleased with all of them. Who does not know the lofty credentials of ʿUmar bin al-Khaṭṭāb, that even satan was forced to change paths when he would see him due to his, principles, morals, standards, character and firm belief. That the likes of these companions just stood there and watched this evil incident to unfold.       

Fifthly: the detractors should know in Islām purification and cleanliness play a pivotal role in the daily life of Muslims. For example, Muslims are instructed to hold their private parts with their left hand because they have been instructed to eat with their right. They are instructed to sit down while relieving themselves, they are instructed to protect themselves and their clothes from urine and faeces, they are instructed to clean themselves with water, they are instructed to wash their hands everytime they relieve themselves, they are instructed to conceal their private parts from others and much more.

The Muslims were given these instructions by the Messenger of Allāh (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam), whose words in the Religion are taken as divine texts, ie from the Prophetic Ḥadīth. This said, the rules, regulations and etiquettes for sexual intercourse between legally married partners in Islām require a greater level of purification and cleanliness.

The point being, on another occasion the Messenger of Allāh (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallam) asked his companions to help lower a body into a grave, and he asked them if any of them were in a state of sexual impurity, ie if they had spent the night with their lawful wives. One of the companion who was in a state of sexual impurity was asked not to help in lowering the body (Bukhārī).

This honours the deceased, ie the people who help lower the deceaseds body are in a state of ritual purity and clean. So when a person is in a state of sexual impurity and he is not allowed to partake in lowering the deceased, then how about the act of sexual intercourse with a corpse! Let alone the rules and regulations Muslims have when it comes to intimacy and intercourse.

We mentioned examples of how Muslims uphold purification and cleanliness while relieving themselves and at the same token the clever people who regurgitate these treacherous lies about the Messenger of Allāh (Sallalahu Alayhi Wasallm), are the same people who do not even wash their hands when they go to the toilet, they have cascades of urine droplets on their clothes and toilet seats. They are the same people who would not bathe for weeks, just less than 100 years and when they would bathe, the whole family would use the water, whereas our glorious Prophetic Divine teachings go back 1400 years.

Therefore, it is absolutely absurd and a despicable aspersion to even suggest this notion of necrophilia, which is an outright treacherous lie.