Detroit Imam Casually Explains Wife Beating as a 'Reminder' to Women
A video clip released by the Middle East Media Research Institute this month revealed that the Az-Zahraa Islamic Center in Detroit, Michigan, tells Muslim men how to beat their wives.
In the clip, a Detroit-based imam explained to male followers how to discipline their wives with physical force.
Shiite Imam Bassem al-Sheraa explained to the class in the video that when the Quran calls on a man to give his wife a “beating,” it’s not meant to cause markings or pain.
Detroit Imam Bassem Al-Sheraa: Wife-Beating Serves to Remind Her That She Misbehaved pic.twitter.com/kl62ITDLqu
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) June 3, 2019
Rather, it should be the type of physical beating that serves as a reminder to the wife that she “misbehaved in cases when words [of admonishment] do not make her change her ways.”
The imam gave an example of what he meant, relating the act to a parent disciplining a child for misbehaving.
“It is just like when your child reaches to touch the electrical socket or a fire, what do you do?” al-Sheraa said. “It is just like when your child picks up something dangerous and is about to eat it. You hit his hand like that as a reminder. That is what ‘beating’ means.”
Oh, perfect. Thank you for letting us know that domestic violence is a perfectly acceptable way to discipline my “misbehaved” spouse.
Remember, this wasn’t a radical Islamist in Syria — this was from an American-based imam.
What if one of those abused wives grew tired of this kind of savage treatment from their husbands and called the police to report it?
Perhaps the husband would tell the police, “It’s cool, I hit her for misbehaving — but not to a level that caused any pain or markings, just like my imam taught me.”
If so, the man would likely be in handcuffs and rightfully so.
This isn’t the first time al-Sheraa has made headlines.
In January, he took a lot of heat for uploading an anti-semitic lecture on YouTube, claiming that Jews sanctioned the killing of prophets and accused them of having distorted sacred texts.
Fox News also pointed out that al-Sheraa refers to himself as a Hujjat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which means he’s a source of authority among Shiite Muslims.
Domestic violence is not acceptable in any society — much less the United States — and shouldn’t be allowed to go on unpunished.
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