It’s okay to hit your wife, but on one condition – Islamic cleric
An Islamic cleric has been going around British universities defending domestic violence, Dailymail claims its investigations have revealed.
Egyptian cleric Fadel Soliman who is reportedly an extremist is said to have spoken at five events in 2015 which he uses to refer Muslim students to an online lecture series.
Soliman is reported to have advised physical punishment for wives who have displeased thier husbands.
“The hitting must be done with a small stick,” he is qouted to have said.
He however says the husband must have passed through two stages of non-pyhsical interaction before going physical.
“After passing through two stages of non-physical interaction, the next stage must involve something physical, in order to escalate the intensity of the warning.”
The preacher is just one of several extremists being permitted to espouse their views unchallenged at Britain’s universities, Dailymail reports.
However, Soliman has described the Dailymail’s report as defamatory and a misrepresentation of him.
In a statement signed by his lawyer, Soliman said he was quoted out of his context.
“Our client has already explained to you, and we set out here, that he lectures in a particular way. Our client will explain the extremist views of others in order to show why these are absurd. There will therefore be videos and lectures in which, with selective editing, will make our client seem as if he is supporting extremism.
The statement further explained that Soliman was only trying to explain the Quranic concept of “idriboo” in the video Dailymail made reference to.
Our client explains that the Quran sets out that men should follow a sequence, which does involve “passing through two stages of non-physical interaction” which you note. Following those stages, the Quran suggests that the man should “idriboo” his wife. Our client does not believe that the purpose of this is to cause humiliation or pain and you also note this in the quotes which you attribute to him. Our client believes that the point of idriboo is for a husband to indicate to his wife that the situation is serious and that the next step is divorce. It is a warning of divorce and it is not a disciplinary action nor is it meant for itself. Our client believes that idriboo is a precursor to divorce which can be easily replaced by any other warning step which would indicate the seriousness of the situation.
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