A book's claim that wife-beating is condoned by Islamic law has the support of Muslim clerics around the world, according to a report.
Egyptian-born Sheikh Muhammad Kamal Mustafa, the imam of the mosque in Fuengirola, Spain, was convicted in January for publishing his book "The Woman in Islam," which among other things said a rebellious wife should be physically punished.
Researchers Steven Stalinsky and Y. Yehoshua contend this belief is common, citing Muslim clerics and Islamic religious institutions that discuss it as a legitimate way of "disciplining" a wife, based on the Quran, reported the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute.
The Barcelona judge, who gave Mustafa a 15-month suspended sentence and fine for inciting violence against women, declared society is completely different from 1,400 years ago.
Mustafa's attorney argued his client was not expressing his personal opinion, but simply reiterating Islamic writings from the 13th and 19th centuries.
In his book, which sold about 3,000 copies, Mustafa states: "The beating must never be in exaggerated, blind anger, in order to avoid serious harm [to the woman]."
He adds, "It is forbidden to beat her on the sensitive parts of her body, such as the face, breast, abdomen, and head. Instead, she should be beaten on the arms and legs," using a "rod that must not be stiff, but slim and lightweight so that no wounds, scars, or bruises are caused."
The sheikh said the aim of the beating is to cause the woman to feel some emotional pain, without humiliating her or harming her physically. Wife-beating, he said, must be the last resort to which the husband turns in punishing his wife, and is, according to the Quran, chapter 4, verse 34, the husband's third step when the wife is rebellious.
First, he must reprimand her, without anger. Next, he must distance her from the conjugal bed. Only if these two methods fail should the husband turn to beating.
Stalinsky and Yehoshua cite other Islamic clerics, including Sheikh Yousef Qaradhawi, one of the most influential clerics in Sunni Islam and head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, who says "it is permissible for the husband to beat her lightly."
In his 1984 book "The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam," he wrote: "If the husband senses that feelings of disobedience and rebelliousness are rising against him in his wife, he should try his best to rectify her attitude by kind words, gentle persuasion, and reasoning with her. If this is not helpful, he should sleep apart from her, trying to awaken her agreeable feminine nature so that serenity may be restored, and she may respond to him in a harmonious fashion. If this approach fails, it is permissible for him to beat her lightly with his hands, avoiding her face and other sensitive parts."
Qaradhawi quotes Imam Al-Hafiz ibn Hajar, who says the saying of the prophet Muhammad, "The best among you do not beat," could imply "beating wives is in general permissible. To be specific, one may beat only to safeguard Islamic behavior and if [the husband] sees deviation only in what she must do or obey in relation to him."
Dr. Jamal Badawi, professor at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Canada, has explained Islam allows beating in cases in "which a wife persists in bad habits and showing contempt of her husband and disregard for her marital obligations."
Read the rest about these scumbags here:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37690
Egyptian-born Sheikh Muhammad Kamal Mustafa, the imam of the mosque in Fuengirola, Spain, was convicted in January for publishing his book "The Woman in Islam," which among other things said a rebellious wife should be physically punished.
Researchers Steven Stalinsky and Y. Yehoshua contend this belief is common, citing Muslim clerics and Islamic religious institutions that discuss it as a legitimate way of "disciplining" a wife, based on the Quran, reported the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute.
The Barcelona judge, who gave Mustafa a 15-month suspended sentence and fine for inciting violence against women, declared society is completely different from 1,400 years ago.
Mustafa's attorney argued his client was not expressing his personal opinion, but simply reiterating Islamic writings from the 13th and 19th centuries.
In his book, which sold about 3,000 copies, Mustafa states: "The beating must never be in exaggerated, blind anger, in order to avoid serious harm [to the woman]."
He adds, "It is forbidden to beat her on the sensitive parts of her body, such as the face, breast, abdomen, and head. Instead, she should be beaten on the arms and legs," using a "rod that must not be stiff, but slim and lightweight so that no wounds, scars, or bruises are caused."
The sheikh said the aim of the beating is to cause the woman to feel some emotional pain, without humiliating her or harming her physically. Wife-beating, he said, must be the last resort to which the husband turns in punishing his wife, and is, according to the Quran, chapter 4, verse 34, the husband's third step when the wife is rebellious.
First, he must reprimand her, without anger. Next, he must distance her from the conjugal bed. Only if these two methods fail should the husband turn to beating.
Stalinsky and Yehoshua cite other Islamic clerics, including Sheikh Yousef Qaradhawi, one of the most influential clerics in Sunni Islam and head of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, who says "it is permissible for the husband to beat her lightly."
In his 1984 book "The Lawful and the Prohibited in Islam," he wrote: "If the husband senses that feelings of disobedience and rebelliousness are rising against him in his wife, he should try his best to rectify her attitude by kind words, gentle persuasion, and reasoning with her. If this is not helpful, he should sleep apart from her, trying to awaken her agreeable feminine nature so that serenity may be restored, and she may respond to him in a harmonious fashion. If this approach fails, it is permissible for him to beat her lightly with his hands, avoiding her face and other sensitive parts."
Qaradhawi quotes Imam Al-Hafiz ibn Hajar, who says the saying of the prophet Muhammad, "The best among you do not beat," could imply "beating wives is in general permissible. To be specific, one may beat only to safeguard Islamic behavior and if [the husband] sees deviation only in what she must do or obey in relation to him."
Dr. Jamal Badawi, professor at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Canada, has explained Islam allows beating in cases in "which a wife persists in bad habits and showing contempt of her husband and disregard for her marital obligations."
Read the rest about these scumbags here:
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37690
