Husband Beating Fatwa
Two scholars and one renowned Islamic thinker believe wives can beat back their husbands in self defense.
"The wife can use force in self defense to counter her husband's violence," Saudi scholar Abdel-Mohsen Al-Abyakan told IslamOnline.net.
"If the husband hits her she can hit him back and if he tries to kill her she can kill him in self defense if this is the only way to save her life."
Abyakan stressed that a woman must use all other means to defend herself before resorting to counter-violence.
"(She can) talk, scream, seek help from neighbors or call the police or those able to defend her."
Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning seat in the Sunni world, agrees that women have the right to counter violence in self defense.
"A wife has the legitimate right to hit her husband in self defense," Sheikh Abdel-Hamid Al-Atrash, the head of Al-Azhar's Fatwa committee, was quoted as saying by Egypt's Al-Masri El-Youm daily.
"Every person has the right to self defense, whether that person is a man or a woman... because all humans are equal before God."
Martial Arts
Turkey's influential Fethullah Gülen has suggested that women should learn martial arts to defend themselves against domestic violence.
"I wish women would take karate, taekwondo or judo courses," Gülen told the Zaman daily.
"If he hits once, she should hit him twice."
Gülen said Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) and his companions never beat their wives.
"It is a violent act to beat one's wife," he said, advising victims of domestic violence to seek divorce.
"Those women, if they don't have kids, should get divorce."
In June, American Foreign Policy magazine unveiled its list of the world's Top 20 Public Intellectuals, with Gülen coming in the first place.
"An Islamic scholar with a global network of millions of followers, Gülen is both revered and reviled in his native Turkey," it said introducing him.
"To members of the Gülen movement, he is an inspirational leader who encourages a life guided by moderate Islamic principles. To his detractors, he represents a threat to Turkey’s secular order." (By Iftikar Al-Bendari, IOL Staff, Cairo)
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