Memri follows up on the case of Ranya Al-Baz, a Saudi TV host.
On April 4, 2004, Yunis left her in a hospital in a state of unconsciousness. The story received extensive media coverage in the Arab world, and the abusive husband was arrested. He was first accused of attempting to kill his wife, but the charges were subsequently reduced to the use of severe violence. Yunis was sentenced to six months imprisonment and 300 lashes.
However, Ranya decided to pardon her husband – a measure allowed by Saudi law. Yunis was spared the lashes and was released in early July after three months imprisonment.
The domestic abuse experts weigh in;
Sheik Abd Al-Hamid Al- Muhajir who asked rhetorically: “[In the case of] a wife who endangers her husband and her own life, what’s better, that she gets slapped or that she ruins her family, herself, and society?”
Egyptian Sheik Muhammad Al-Massir of Al-Azhar University also explained the circumstances in which a husband is allowed to beat his wife. If a woman is disobedient, he explained on the Saudi-based channel Iqra TV, ” a woman for whom marital life is important suffers when she is left alone in the bed. If we get to a point where abandonment [in bed] does not pain her and words do not deter her, we may have come to the stage of beatings.”
More here, including insight into the subject from Muslim clerics in North America.
Too bad the beatings don’t go both ways.
Some of them sound like they would greatly benefit from a little physical attitude re-arrangement.
This is one of those places where the right to bear arms makes a big difference.
My wife’s a better shot than I am, and in our household, beatings would be met by a face full of hollow points.
Hollow points have been known to discourage abusive husbands.
To what extent does polygamy, potential or actual, exacerbate this mentality? It seems to me there’s an element of pre-emptive strike in wife-beating: I’ll get control of wife #1 before she incites wife #2 to disaffection. Alternatively, it reminds me of a plantation owner sleeping with his shotguns at hand, just in case the slaves revolt.
A Jordanian I used to work with, who is an American citizen and long-time US resident, offered these analogies:
Saudis = Beverly Hillbillies
They have oil, but that’s pretty much it. The rest of the Arabs consider them comical.
Wahabbis = snake-handlers
Way beyond fundamentalists; just plain weird.
Mitch,
I’ve heard that too and believe it, but in this case the snake hnadlers control Vatican City, and Jerusalem, and have enough money to fund a lot of theological colleges, radio stations, and TV, and by the way fund a lot of priests.
It’s a joke alright, but not the funny kind.