A bill on domestic violence stipulating harsher penalties against abusive husbands has caused criticism of comments made by Al-Azhar grand imam Sheikh Ahmed Al-Tayyeb about the religious ruling of beating wives.
The bill which is now being discussed at the parliament provides that any abusive husband shall face a jail term of up to five years and a minimum of three years instead of the current one-year sentence.
The proposed law has prompted attacks on Sheikh Al-Tayyeb by women rights groups over comments he made in 2019.
In the comments, Al-Azhar grand imam said that men can beat their disobedient wives as long as no bones are broken and without causing any harm or injury.
Sheikh Al-Tayyeb said that men should not use their hands or slap their wives on the face, adding that what is meant by beating is a slight tap on the wife’s body with a toothpick or a miswak which is a tiny teeth-cleaning stick that was used during the time of Prophet Mohamed.
An Islamic researcher also came out in a TV show criticizing Sheikh Al-Tayyeb’s comments.
“With all due respect and appreciation to Al-Azhar Sheikh, his words are wrong and unconstitutional, and there is no such thing as conditional beatings,” Islam Al-Buhairi said.
Al-Buhairi’s statements were subject to severe criticism and attack from the public and Al-Azhar Sheikhs.
This wide controversy led to a response from Egypt’s top fatwa institution Dar Al Ifta which said that Islam does not allow women beating.
“(Real) men do not beat women,” read Dar Al-Ifta’s statement which was published on its official Facebook page.
According to statistics released by the state-run National Council for Women, 86 percent of wives are prone to domestic violence.
