Lebanon’s top Shiite cleric says Muslim woman may hit back if beaten by husband
A Muslim woman is allowed to fight back in self-defense if hit by her husband, Lebanon’s top Shiite cleric declared Tuesday in a ruling rare for the male-dominated Islamic society.
Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah issued the fatwa, or religious edict, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
A statement by his office said Fadlallah stressed that although Islam gives men supremacy over women in running household affairs, it “does not approve of a man using any sort of violence against a woman, even in the form of insults and harsh words.”
“These (acts) are sins whose doers will be brought to account by God and are punished by Islamic law,” Fadlallah said and denounced all kinds of physical violence used against wives as “a sign of weakness” by the husband.
Fadlallah, 72, is the top religious authority for Lebanon’s 1.2 million Shiites, but has followers throughout the Mideast. He is considered a militant by the West for past links to the Hezbollah, but has adopted progressive, nonviolent stances on some issues, surprising some among his conservative followers. [complete article]
Interesting post. I’m glad you actually wrote something nice about us muslims… …I’ve been around the net for a pretty long time now, and the only thing I can read about muslims is bad things… getting pretty annoyed! I’ve also started to write a bit about Ramadan. I started out my own Ramadan blog over here: http://www.ramadanonline.com Oh, and whatever you do – don’t you dare stop blogging. You’re insane when it comes to writing!
Assalau’alaikum,
It is true in that in Islam the man is a leader for women and Muslim women are allowed to defend themselves if hit by her husband. However, in some democratic countries they think women should be equal with men in everything but I think it will disrupt life for violating the rules of Allah.