Lebanese Shiite Religious Authority Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadhlallah Explains His Fatwa Which Allows Women to Beat Their Abusive Husbands

Following are excerpts from an interview with Lebanese Shiite Cleric Muhammad Hussein Fadhlallah, which aired on New TV on June 14.

Muhammad Hussein Fadhlallah: Marriage does not give the husband the authority to persecute his wife. Just like a man has the right to defend himself against anyone who wants to attack him, the woman has the right to defend herself against whoever wants to attack her, whether within the family or not. Only in one case does the Koran refer to wife beating: "As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them, refuse to share their beds, and beat them." It is said that these should be light beatings.

Interviewer: Beatings that cause no harm...

Fadhlallah: They should be humiliating, not painful. Let's assume that a wife refrains from fulfilling her commitments with regard to marital issues – and especially with regard to sex. This is a unique case, because you cannot appeal to the courts. If a man does not comply with his marital commitments towards his wife, the wife has the right to respond in kind, by refraining from fulfilling her own commitments.

[...]

Fadhlallah: When a man takes his temperament or mental complexes to an extreme, and beats his wife until she bleeds, breaks her leg, or gives her a black eye, the question is whether in her capacity as a wife, she should tolerate this, or whether she should defend herself. In such a case, there is a right to self-defense both in the religious and the human aspects.