Following are excerpts from a lecture delivered by Egyptian cleric Abd Al-Rahman Mansour, which aired on Al-Nas TV on August 17-18, 2012.
Abd Al-Rahman Mansour: "Islam instructs a man to beat his wife as a last resort before divorce, so that she will mend her ways, treat him with kindness and respect, and know that her husband has a higher status than her.
"I say to every husband: Do not rush to beat her whenever a problem arises. Oh servant of Allah, Allah said: 'Admonish those of them on whose part you fear disobedience, refuse to share their beds, and beat them.' One should not beat out of anger.
"This you must know: If the wife utters the name of God, the beating must stop.
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"When 'Aisha thought ill of the Prophet Muhammad, believing that he did not treat her the same as his other wives, and that when he left her room, he would go to another wife, she followed him and spied on him. 'Aisha said that when the Prophet found out about this, 'He gave me a shove that was painful.'
"This was done in order to discipline her, not because the Prophet enjoyed beating or inflicting bodily harm. The Prophet did this in order to discipline this woman.
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"A good woman, even if beaten by her husband, puts her hand in his and says: 'I will not rest until you are pleased with me.' This is how the Prophet Muhammad taught his women to be."
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