Iraqi Cleric Ahmad Al-Qubeisi: Wife Beating In Islam is an Alternative to Calling the Police - But not in the Face!

The following are excerpts from an interview with Iraqi cleric Ahmad Al-Qubeisi, which aired on Dubai TV on April 30, 2005

Qubeisi: Let's talk about wife beating again. We begin with admonishment, but if we see that their moral values are worse than we had thought, we begin abandoning them in bed. As a rule, abandoning a wife in bed is not allowed, because a wife is entitled to certain things from her husband, just like a husband is entitled to certain things from his wife – I mean sex. She needs it just like he does. Therefore, he's not allowed to abandon her for more than four days, as 'Omar (Ibn Al-Khattab) ruled in the case of Ka'b Ibn Sur. He said: "I consider a wife to be one of four. Therefore, she's entitled to spend one night in four with her husband." But if doesn't make her obey her husband again, he's allowed to abandon her in bed for some time. If, however, her moral values are even worse than that, the husband administers beatings that are not severe. The hadith restricts (the beatings) as follows: First, the beatings cannot be severe. Second, the husband must avoid the face. Not in the face! Third, the beatings should not exceed beatings administered with a toothpick. The beatings are meant to discipline, not to torture. In other words, the beatings are meant to humiliate the wife a little. Woman are greatly revered. One cannot beat a wife even lightly unless she is very bad. Even a wife with such bad moral values…

The Prophet Muhammad allowed this only after his companions asked him to. Prior to that, the Prophet had completely forbidden wife beating. His companions said: "Oh Prophet, with some wives nothing works except beatings. They're vulgar! They're not well brought up!" The Prophet answered, "You may beat. But the best among you will never beat." A good man will not beat even such a bad wife. Therefore, a religious rule has been established: A husband beats his wife instead of calling the police. If your wife is so bad, to the point that you could call the police, file a complaint against her, or have them take her away to the police station – Islam says that such cases are scandalous and improper, and that you'd better beat her, but not severely, on her shoulder but keep it as light as a toothpick beating. This is the meaning of (wife) beating, which has been inflated to such proportions. In many that claim to protect women's rights, women are beaten like animals, and no one protests this. Islam, on the other hand, has restricted this. However, if the Muslims abuse this (permission), the problem lies with these Muslims, not with Islam.