UK Mosque Says It's OK to Hit Your Wife!

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Two mosques in the United Kingdom were reported to the Charity Commission for recently hosting sermons where they said women should not refuse to have sex with their husbands, adding that a man can hit his wife if she refuses sex and that wives who refuse to have sex with their husbands have no right to receive financial support from their spouses.

An-Noor Masjid and Community Centre in Birmingham and Muhammadi Masjid Bradford recently hosted sermons where they claimed that it is permissible for a man to hit his wife if she refuses to have sex with him and it is not permissible for women to observe a voluntary fast without her husband’s permission since sex is not permitting while fasting during Ramadan.

Both mosques are registered as charities for the purpose of “the advancement of religion.” An-Noor Masjid and Muhammadi Masjid uploaded their sermons to their YouTube channels earlier in September. 

Mahamed AbdurRazaq, an Islamic lecturer for the An-Noor Masjid, said during his sermon titled "Detailed Rulings on Marriage" that "hitting" wives who refused to have sex is acceptable.

AbdurRazaq earlier said that a husband may first give "advice" and "admonition" to his wife if she refuses to have sex with him, adding that he may refuse to sleep in the same bed as her.

But if "that doesn't help," AbdurRazaq said, then the husband is "allowed to hit her" and "shake her,” as long as it does not "bruise" or "break bones.”

Muhammad Huzaifah, another Islamic lecturer, said during his sermon at Muhammadi Masjid in Bradford titled "The Rights Of The Spouses" that women are not permitted for women to hold voluntary fasts outside of Ramadan (also known as nawafil in Islam) unless their husband permits them to do so. The sermon was uploaded on September 6th. 

Huzaifah explained that it "is obviously because the husband has certain rights which are not allowed to take place during when a person is fasting, the relationship between a husband and a wife, you can't do those relationships while a person is fasting.”

He also said that "obeying the husband and giving him his rights" is "obligatory" for Muslim women and that most people in Hell are women who are "ungrateful to their husbands.”

The National Secular Society raised their concerns to the British government’s charity regulator, arguing that the sermons by the two mosques effectively condone marital rape and violence and violate women’s rights. After the NSS reported the two mosques to the Charity Commission, the videos of their sermons became unavailable to the public. 

"The patriarchal ideology spouted by these preachers can fuel misogyny, discrimination, and violence against women and girls.” Megan Manson, the organization’s head of campaigns, said. 

"Assertions that men can hit their wives if they refuse sex and that women need their husband's permission to ritually abstain from sex are deeply disturbing. These ideas effectively condone domestic abuse, violence against women, and marital rape.” Manson added. 

The NSS also renewed its calls to the British government to review the purpose of advancing religion when registering charities.

"If 'the advancement of religion' charitable purpose is enabling charities to advance misogyny through religious ideology, this purpose must be urgently reviewed," Manson said.

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