July 13, 2004

DON'T BEAT YOUR WIFE!

Once again another wife-beating incident took place in Dhaka, where an Imam let his muezzin beat his wife because she refused to give him permission to marry again. The drama continued when she was admitted to hospital and the Imam & Muezzin were sued by her father. The Imam, an activist of ruling coalition member Jamaat-e-Islami then sent some persons to threaten her. When a local TV channel went there for covering the story, they were driven away.

Wife beating is not endorsed in Islam although some opportunist clerics interpret that it is permissible. Habibee, a Muslim girl points out:

Once, the Prophet (saw) was asked about beating your wife. He said that if you choose to beat your wife, beat her with a swak. For those of you who don't know what a swak is, it's a sort of toothbrush. It is made from a very thin piece of, I think, bark?? It looks sort of like those really thin incense sticks. What he was trying to say here is...DON'T BEAT YOUR WIFE!!! It's a little bit of sarcasm!! Like, if you're going to beat someone, beat them with a tissue. See? You can't really BEAT someone with a swak!! But a lot of people are really splitting hairs here by saying that means you can beat your wife.

It doesn't get clearer than this. Is it? Logical interpretation is the weakest skill of today's clerics.

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