In lieu of wife-beating by Pakistani husbands, CII suggest ‘light beating’ if woman fails to bathe after intercourse
Since Pakistan is an Islamic nation, it is not surprising that the Asian country is following the recent video advice of a Saudi Arabian family therapist on how to beat a wife properly.
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) bill is a response to the Punjab Women Protection bill for abused women, which the council considers un-Islamic, reports CNN.
But Muhammad Kahn Sherani, chairman of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) clarifies that “light beating” is only a last resort. Mimicking the Saudi Arabian advice, Sherani explains, “If you want to mend her ways, you should first advise her … If she refuses, stop talking to her … stop sharing a bed with her, and if things do not change, get a bit strict.”
The advice was met with ridicule and anger. Some groups say it should be the clerics who wrote the bill as the one who should be beaten up. Sherani says the council is strongly opposed to the Punjab proposal and would weigh in with its own proposal.
Sherani specifies that if all measures fail, the husband could hit the wife with light items such as a handkerchief, a hat or a turban. But he could not strike her on the face or private parts, reports The Washington Post.
Even if the husband is abusive, the council considers it not following the tenets of the Islam faith for the wife to leave their home and seek shelter in a refuge.
The CII recommendation is to allow husbands to lightly beat their wives if she do not obey his orders, refuses to dress up as he desires, rejects demand for sex without any religious excuse and does not bathe after intercourse or menstrual period.
Its recommendations, which are based on teachings from the Quran and Sharia law, also include legalisation of domestic violence if the wife refuses to cover her head or face in public, talks with strangers, speaks too loud to be easily heard by strangers and supports other people financially without the approval of her husband.
