The Narration

Narrated by Ibn Abbas:

"I (Muhammad) put on her my shirt that she may wear the clothes of heaven, and I SLEPT with her in her coffin (grave) that I may lessen the pressure of the grave. She was the best of Allah's creatures to me after Abu Talib"... The prophet was referring to Fatima, the mother of Ali.

Looking at the narration alone one would not cry “necrophilia” or any wrong doing as “sex” is not mentioned. However, simply looking at the narration’s English translation one would find it odd. Sleeping with somebody in a coffin (grave) is an odd occurrence indeed. However, once the context is given we realise what actually happened.

The Context and Explanation

Firstly the translation of “I slept” does not best convey the meaning based on the context, the Arabic word translated as “I Slept” is Idtaja’ (اضطجع ). This word can either mean:

lie down, lie, recline, repose [3].

I hope you have noticed within the list of definitions (lie down, lie, recline, repose) the word “sleep” (or “sex”) does not appear. Lane’s Lexicon does indicate it can refer to sleeping too:

lay upon his side; or] he laid his side upon the

ground; [and simply he lay; and he slept [4]

Though the word can refer to sleep, I have seen NO indication in Lane’s Lexicon nor the other dictionary which indicates the word means sex. (I will elaborate on this later on in this paper whilst discussing Father Zakaria’s bizarre and fallacious interpretation of the narration)