Muslim federation lashes out at imam who advocated wife beating

A podcast in which the cleric spoke about ways to rein in an unruly spouse has drawn a barrage of criticism

The Muslim Spiritual Board of Russia has taken a stand against a cleric who sparked public uproar with his commentary that seemed to encourage domestic violence.

In a video podcast published by Tatar Inform news outlet on Sunday, the cleric, Imam Timur Kamaev, attempted to explain a passage in the Quran regarding disciplining disobedient wives; the Surah An-Nisa 34. He said that the process should come in stages, with “those women whose rebellion you fear” to first be “admonished” verbally, then barred from the marital bed and then “beaten.” When asked to clarify the last part, Kamaev said it refers to light blows which would not cause injury.

“For example, there is such a thing as a miswak, which is a small stick [for brushing teeth]. You can gently hit your wife a couple of times with it – moving your hand from the elbow, not from the shoulder,” the imam suggested, adding that through this, the wife “must understand that she is doing something wrong.”

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The story was quickly picked up by several other news outlets, and went viral on social media, with some users slamming the imam’s suggestions as a “call for violence,” while others doubted he correctly interpreted the religious text. Tatar Inform later deleted the controversial podcast, accusing peers who publicized it of taking the imam’s words out of context.

The Muslim Spiritual Board of Russia on Wednesday rejected Kamaev’s reading of the passage, stressing that violence is not encouraged in Islam.

“We are fundamentally opposed to domestic violence and affirm that [Islamic Prophet] Muhammad’s message is, at its core, humanistic… Unfortunately, there is still widespread prejudice in the world, and primarily among Muslims themselves, that Islam allows or even encourages this kind of ‘educational measures’ against one’s wife,” Damir Mukhetdinov, deputy head of the board, told Gazeta.ru news outlet. He noted that such misunderstandings are common with interpretations of the Quran, as is the case with the famous Surah At-Tawbah 5, or Verse of the Sword, “on the basis of which aggressiveness and militancy are attributed to Islam.”

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Mukhetdinov suggested that with his interpretation, Kamaev may have tried to “appeal to such views of the average person” and “clarify that the verse in question should not be taken literally.” According to Mukhetdinov, the term “beat” in this instance should be interpreted as “cut ties."