Necrophilia: Erotic Interest in a Corpse
by Dr. Aslam Abdullah
The Egyptian parliament is
reportedly set to introduce a law allowing husbands to have sex with their dead
wives up to six hours after death. Who is introducing this bill and with
what purpose? It is not clear. One hopes that it is a hoax and those who stand
for Islam would never indulge in this type of bizarre legislative process. It
is alleged that those who proposed this bill come from groups that believe in
Islam as their guiding principle. Unless we hear definite words from these
Islamic parties, we would not refer to the legislation.
However,
references have been made to a ruling by a Moroccan cleric Zamzami Abdul Bar
who last year gave permission to husbands to have sex with their dead wives.
His argument: since the two would meet in Heaven again anyway, death shouldn’t
get in the way of one last post-mortem marital romp. It is this ruling that is
the focus of this article.
Islam is very clear on the issue of matrimonial ties. With the death of a
spouse, the contract of marriage comes to an end. There is no difference in this
regard among the scholars of all schools of thoughts. Thus the ruling of the so-called Muslim cleric demonstrates the abuse of the authority in the name of
God. It shows a total disregard to common sense or even the basics of the
divine teachings. Furthermore, it shows how obsessed are some of the so called
religious scholars with male sexuality. It is a shame that these people occupy
positions of authority in the Muslim community and their views are accepted as
a genuine interpretation of the divine teachings. What is even worse is that
Muslim scholars, in general, have chosen to be quiet on this issue. The
opposition to Zamzami has come from secularists as Muslim scholars, by and
large, have preferred to ignore the issue.
What Zamzami decreed is a mockery of the divine teachings. The Sura (chapter) two of the Quran in Aya (verse) 79 described such people as those who
frame the
laws of the Sharia themselves and attribute them to God. The Quran
describes them worse than animals. The Quran further explains “Worst of the creatures in the sight of Allah are those
human beings who do not utilize the capabilities of hearing and speaking and
refuse to understand (8:22).
The Quran goes even further consigning
these people to a great torment while explaining “You will see many amongst
both the Jinn (invisible beings) and Ins (humans)
who are destined for Jahannam (hellfire) for they have been
given the faculties of thinking, seeing and hearing but they do not utilize
them (to grasp the truth). They are just like brutes - and indeed worse than
them. They remain un-heedful of the laws of Allah. (7:179)
Who in his or her right mind will think of having sex with a
dead corpse? The only sick and perverted mind can think of these things when most
people are concerned to ensure a swift and quick burial, as dictated by the
faith. Imagine, the mourners are lining up at the house offering their
condolences while the husband is busy in seeking his sexual gratification from
the dead body of his wife in the name of fulfilling his obligation. It is
blasphemy. It is animalistic and those who even think of these things deserve
to be castrated rather than being given the legal and religious protection.
It is a shame that those who advocate such a practice and are
willing to give it a legal shield claim to be Muslims representing Islam: the divine message that talks of human dignity, for dead or alive.
These perverted scholars are obsessed with male sexuality. To
most of them, women serve the purpose of providing their male partners utmost
sexual gratification. It does not matter to them what a woman thinks or feels.
What is important for them is to ensure that male sexuality is taken care
of. They have misused God and His messengers in justifying their lustful
perverted thoughts. They talk of a divine curse on women who refuse to submit to
the sexual desires of their husbands and they argue for a meek and submissive
wife who must live in the shadow of her husband ever ready to serve him. They
even justify marrying girls at a younger age because it serves the male sexual
chauvinistic fantasies. The worst is that they concoct all their perversions in
the name of God and His messengers especially Prophet Muhammad. They have even
concocted stories attributing the practice of marrying younger girls to the
Prophet and his companions against the Quranic commands, the common sense, and
decency. To them what is more important is what has been explained by the
previous scholars. The divine teachings or the actual character of the messenger hardly matters to them. They describe all those who refuse to accept
their perversion as deviants, un-Godly, and worthy of denunciations. Some even
go a step further by describing women who want to assert their independence as
whores and a piece of worthless flesh. How abhorrent is their action and how
despicable is their behavior. They do not deserve to be leading Muslims in
prayers or teaching the believers their faith. They deserve to be sent in
the institutions set up to cure mentally challenged people.. They need help in
rediscovering their humanity.
Even if
this bill is introduced in the parliament we hope that those standing for Islam would
be the one fighting these perversions and manipulations. We have no reason to
believe that they themselves are the ones who are supportive of these
obsessions. Is this the priority of Islam to allow husbands to have sex with
their dead wives? Is this the priority of Muslims to allow parents to marry
their daughters at an early age when they are not ready to make big decisions
in their lives?
We hope
they are intelligent and would not turn a serious faith to ridicule by burlesquing and immaturity
to imitate their
perversions grotesquely and absurdly? We do not need these scholars who impose their ideas on divine
ideas. We do not need these religious teachers who misuse religion to serve
their egos. And that is why the Quran has empowered each and every individual
to seek clarification and guidance directly from it. In the eyes of the Quran, those
who manipulate the Quran are the culprits and they must be questioned and
challenged
They
should have known that even though legends with necrophilia themes are common
throughout history and the concept of sexual interference with the dead has
been known since the ancient Egyptians, it has been an abhorred practice as
noted by Herodotus (428 BC)
"When the wife of a distinguished man dies, or any woman who happens to be
beautiful or well known, her body is not given to the embalmers immediately,
but only after the lapse of three or four days. This is a precautionary measure
to prevent the embalmers from violating her corpse, a thing which is actually
said to have happened in the case of a woman who had just died." (de
Selincourt, translation, 1972, p.161)
"Necrophilia actions" or "Pseudo necrophilia" have happened in the recent past.
Rosman and Resnick (1988) compiled 122 cases of necrophilia, both from the
literature and previously unreported cases referred to investigators. The
powerlessness and the lifeless condition of a corpse form the stimulus for the
coward perverted individual who is consumed with the desire to satisfy an
abnormal desire of seeking absolute subjugation, without the possibility of
resistance. The solution to such perversion is a treatment for
necrophilia through cognitive therapy, use of sex-drive, reducing medications,
and assistance with improving social and sexual relations as well as sexual
discipline, etc. The solution is not a law in the name of God.
In 2010
two cases of necrophilia were reported in newspapers. One was in The Philippines and the other in Pakistan. In 2010, Police in Zamboanga, The Philippines started investigating into an alleged case of necrophilia after
five graves were desecrated. Also in Karachi, a police offer at the Nazimabad
police station reported that a detainee has admitted having sex with at least
48 dead women in the past few months.
Individuals
who commit these anti-divine acts must be brought to justice rather than given
protection in the name of God.
In The United States, no federal law exists to prohibit this act. However, several
states have their own legislation covering this abnormal behavior. In March,
2012, the State of Illinois voted unanimously to approve a bill that makes
necrophilia a class 2 felony. It says: “A person commits an abuse of a corpse if
he or she intentionally: (1) engages in sexual conduct with a corpse or
involving a corpse; or (2) removes or carries away a corpse and is not
authorized by law to do so.” The states that have laws are: Alabama - Class C
felony;, Alaska - Class A misdemeanor; , Arkansas - Class D felony; California
- Illegal, up to 8 years in prison; Colorado - Class 2 misdemeanor;, Delaware
- Class A misdemeanor; Florida-- Second-degree felony; Georgia - Felony, up to
10 years in prison; Iowa - Class D Felony; Hawaii - Misdemeanor; Michigan -
Class A felony, life in prison; Oregon - Felony for "Abuse of Corpse; "Texas
- Class A Misdemeanor; Pennsylvania - Second-degree misdemeanor; Washington -
Class C Felony for "Sexually violation human remains;" Minnesota and
Nevada also have laws prohibiting necrophilia as well.
One of the roles assigned to the
Prophet, as explained in the Quran, was “to lift the burdens under which the
humanity groans and free them from the shackles which bind them [7:157].
What a shame that the scholar speaking in the name of Islam wants to defy the A prophet in such a serious matter.
