A reader writes:
Regarding the necrophilia story – apparently there is zero confirmation that this is true. Numerous people, including Sarah Carr, a journalist who I respect and trust, wrote into the Daily Mail to contest the reporter's story (see her comment on the article time-stamped 11:06):
If Lee Moran had troubled himself to do a little bit of research beyond translating an op-ed and a TV talking head, he would have discovered that in fact, a draft law to allow men to have sex with their deceased wives does not exist. If Mr Moran's googling had been more thorough he would have discovered that this rumour was started by a local wacko who, alas, has a public platform by virtue of the fact that he owns a satellite channel.
There is no evidence that such a bill exists or was under discussion in parliament at any point. Where's the video? Apparently this rumor was started by a TV personality famous for not being particularly accurate, the sensationalism of the story led it to be passed around on Twitter as if it were fact, and the Daily Mail – a true paragon of journalism – picked it up as well. (To be fair, so did Jezebel.) Please don't propagate this unsubstantiated crap.
Allahpundit also casts a critical eye:
A cleric in Morocco did indeed approve the practice of, er, "farewell intercourse" within the past few years, but unless I’m missing something in the Al-Arabiya story, the evidence that the bill exists — and that the NCW has complained about it to the speaker — is purely Samea’s say-so. Half a dozen other articles I read today about this all point back to the Al-Arabiya article; as far as I can tell, no one named in the story has spoken to any media about it or otherwise confirmed that what Samea claims is true.
And who’s Samea? According to the CSM, that’s curious too: "Today, Egypt’s state-owned Al Ahram newspaper published an opinion piece by Amr Abdul Samea, a past stalwart supporter of the deposed Hosni Mubarak … " … Al-Ahram is controlled by the Egyptian government, which I assume means it’s heavily influenced by the ruling military junta. And the junta, of course, is invested in discrediting the Islamists in order to defend its prerogatives against parliament’s growing power.
An Egyptian reader adds:
It's simply amazing how a stupid baseless rumor travels half way around the world and makes its way into one of my favorite blogs. The idea of "farewell intercourse law" was too ridiculous even for the Egyptian twittersphere to believe, and that is saying something. Here's a snapshot (with some commentary) of the article where this idea started. My translation (of the part on the right with white background):
So we hear, in these happy days, those who talk about the necessity of issuing a law that allows for girls to marry at the age of fourteen or another law that acknowledges what some call 'farewell intercourse' which allows the husband to sleep with his wife in the six hours after her death. This is what comes from the traditionalist that aims to take away women's right to work and study and corner them with the most backward and ignorant interpretations of religious text.
The commentary on the left with black background talks about how the article doesn't mention the source of who these are who about these laws. Then it goes on to ask that this person be questioned about his sources and how he is hired by a national newspaper and is paid with tax money. The lines at the top (with red-ish background) introduces the issue.
Let me tell you a bit about the author of the article. This guy used to host a TV show during the days of Mubarak. He was the kind of phony independent "opposing" the actions of the government for not exactly following the instructions of the great leader. This was the route that the smart people would take to grow in ranks in the Mubarak regime.
I'm not an Islamist, and don't like the Muslim Brotherhood and I'm still shocked by the Salafis win in the past election in Egypt. However, I'm shocked that any of this would be linked to Islam in anyway.
The Dish 