A Spanish court recently sentenced one of the country’s imams to spend six months studying the Spanish constitution and declaration of human rights after he wrote a book on how to beat wives without leaving any incriminating signs on their bodies.
The book, entitled "Women in Islam," includes instructions on how to discipline unruly wives, according to the London Telegraph. In it, its author Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, an imam at a southern Spanish resort, writes that if attempts fail to discipline a wife using measures such as verbal warnings and sexual inactivity, a husband has the right under Islamic law to beat his wife.
Mustafa goes on to offer explicit directions on beating a wife without leaving any betraying marks on her body. “The blows should be concentrated on the hands and feet using a rod that is thin and light so that it does not leave scars or bruises on the body.”
Mustafa was convicted last year of inciting violence against women and sentenced to 15 months in jails and a stiff fine. A judge however ordered his release on the condition that he undertake a re-education course.
As a result of such convictions, the Spanish government has taken steps to eliminate such thinking within Spain’s large Muslim community, setting up a commission to investigate the matter. One suggestion of the commission is that all imams must speak Spanish and be familiar with Spanish law and human rights.
Mustafa will undergo his re-education at the Malaga University, and be responsible for paying his own tuition.
He will be required, amongst other portions of the Spanish constitution, to study those texts dealing with "the dignity of a person and inviolable rights, " and that stating that "all Spaniards are equal before the law.”
