Muslim women's demonstration of how their hubands can hit them causes public outcry in Australia

The two Muslim women demonstrated how men can hit them if they are "disobedient"
Women of Hizb ut-Tahrir (Facebook)
Jonathan Mitchell14 April 2017

A video demonstrating how Muslim men are allowed to hit their wives with sticks and pieces of fabric has sparked public outcry after it was released in Australia.

In the shocking Facebook video, posted by the Women of Hizb ut-Tahrir, Sydney primary school teacher Reem Allouche tells panellist Atika Latifiit it is okay to hit women with a stick as beating women is a “symbolic act”.

The 30-minute discussion, filmed in Sydney, sparked a nationwide backlash. In the footage, the two Muslim women even go on to demonstrate how to use a stick to hit a woman.

Other acceptable methods include fabric or a twisted scarf, the women say.

The group has since apologised on Facebook, but claimed that the Muslim community must not “shy away” from controversial Islamic issues.

In the video, the pair justify beatings only if the woman has “committed sin” as the man must take a “leadership position”.

Ms Latifi said: “And what a beautiful blessing, that he said not to take the steps at the one time, but one after the other.”

'And what is the third option all about? What kind of hitting? It should not cause pain.”

The Australian government considered banning Hizb ut-Tahrir in 2007, but eventually deemed it to be a political group.

During the debate, Ms Allouche said: “'He's not responding through anger or frustration or rage.

“He's responding in obedience to Allah's commands, in a measured and staged way, because we know when people talk about violence against women, often it happens in the heat of the moment, in anger, in frustration and what-not, whereas here, it's managed.'”

In an apology posted on Facebook yesterday, the group said: “We firmly believe that we, as a community, must not shy away from the clarification of Islamic injunctions, however controversial, let alone succumb to reinterpretations of Islam forced by liberal hounding.

“In fact, the greater the pressure, the greater our adherence to Islam must be.”

“When mud-slinging at Islam is the order of the day in an increasingly hostile West, more thought needs to be given to the question of purpose, worth and risk of sharing content online.

“We acknowledge our mistake in this respect in this instance.”

Australian Labour MP Ed Husic, the first Muslim member of the country's federal parliament, has criticised the video.

He told the Australian: "It’s not acceptable in any form to strike anyone, either between husband and wife or anywhere.

"Violence is not an answer or acceptable outcome whatsoever and I believe they are right to describe it as thus.”

Meanwhile, Australian news outlet The Project'a host Waleed Aly, a Muslim, called the women’s views “infuriating”.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in