UAE Supreme Court: Wife-beating Not A Crime.

[Prometheus]

Court rules on domestic "discpline"

ABU DHABI -- A man has the right to discipline his wife and children provided he does not leave physical marks, the Federal Supreme Court has ruled.

 

The judgment was made in the case of a man who slapped and kicked his daughter and slapped his wife.

 

The wife suffered injuries to her lower lip and teeth, and the daughter had bruises on her right hand and right knee. The court ruled that the bruises were evidence that the father had abused his Sharia right.

 

According to Islamic law, a man has the "right to discipline" his wife and children, which can include beating them after he has exhausted two other options: admonition and then abstaining from sleeping with his wife. Although scholars differ in their definition of "beating", all agree it must not be severe.

 

In the case of the wife, it was the degree of severity that put the man in breach of the law. The daughter, however, was 23, and therefore too old to be disciplined by her father.

 

He claimed he did not mean to harm either of them, and had hit his wife by mistake while trying to discipline his daughter.

 

Sharjah Court of First Instance fined the father Dh500 for abuse. The decision was upheld by the Sharjah Court of Appeals on February 14. He appealed against the verdict at the Federal Supreme Court.

 

"Although the [law] permits the husband to use his right [to discipline], he has to abide by the limits of this right," wrote Chief Justice Falah al Hajeri in a ruling issued this month and released in a court document yesterday.

 

 

"If the husband abuses this right to discipline, he cannot be exempted from punishment."

 

The court also ruled that a father does not have the right to beat his children after they become adults. In Sharia, reaching the age of puberty is evidence of adulthood.

 

"He is not allowed, according to Sharia, to beat his daughter, who is 23 years old," wrote Chief Justice al Hajeri.

 

Jihad Hashim Brown, the head of research at Tabah Foundation, said: "It's unlawful in Sharia - if taken in its entirety - to injure one's wife. It's unlawful to insult the dignity of one's wife.

 

"That is if we look at the tradition as a whole: the Quran, the hadith and writings of Islamic jurists."

 

He said beating one's wife was in conflict with "clear and concise" Islamic texts, which encourage Muslims to treat their wives in "love and kindness".

 

He said a Quranic verse might appear to allow certain things but if the verse was not "clear and concise", it should not enter courts of law.

 

"The vast majority of scholars overwhelmingly agree it is forbidden to injure or insult the dignity of one's wife," Mr Brown said. "If there is no clear text, then the court should treat it as a criminal act."

 

 

He added that Islamic texts stipulated the essence of healthy marriage was constant and mutual love. When any one of the couple felt there was need for beating, he said, "it's time for divorce".

 

 

Dr Ahmed al Kubaisi, the head of Sharia Studies at UAE University and Baghdad University, said that under Sharia beating one's wife was an option to prevent the breakdown of the family.

 

He said it should be used only as a substitute to resorting to the police.

 

"If a wife committed something wrong, a husband can report her to police," Dr al Kubaisi said. "But sometimes she does not do a serious thing or he does not want to let others know; when it is not good for the family. In this case, hitting is a better option."

 

Dr Jassim al Shamsi, the dean of the college of law at UAE University, said the article in UAE law about wife-beating was not there to permit husbands to beat their wives, but to exempt them from punishment.

 

He said Sharia made it clear that any beating should be in no way severe. But Sharia, he said, repeatedly emphasised that love and respect were more important among husbands and wives than any discipline.

 

"The law does not ask husbands to beat their wives, it only means a man cannot be charged with anything if the beating did not leave any marks," Dr al Shamsi said. "It is a beating for discipline, not a violent or a vengeful beating. The Prophet said: "Only a wicked person hits his wife."

 

The National

[Geel_jire]

I see no problem with this ruling, it echoes the advice of the Prophet P.B.U.H

 

when you are discipling your wife or your child do not hit them in the face and do not hit so hard that you leave a mark.

 

The wife suffered injuries to her lower lip and teeth, and the daughter had bruises on her right hand and right knee. The court ruled that the bruises were evidence that the father had abused his Sharia right

The court found for the wife and the daughter because this kind of beating falls outside of what is permissable.

 

it is ammusing to see how the media sensationalize this issue .. by referring to innovative methods used to torture people without leaving a mark . in one article I read about hitting people with a sack of oranges to cause internal injuries etc.

[ElPunto]

I think this ruling was a mistake for the precedent it sets. There is a difference between being technically within the legal limits and missing the spirit of the whole body of Islamic law. As far as we know, this man didn't seek help from friends, family, imams, professional counsellors etc before resorting to hitting his wife for the purposes of 'discipline'. Allowing an easy route of 'discipline' by hitting, even where it leaves no mark, is not within the spirit of the Prophet's [PBUH] teachings.

 

While it may be sensationalized to mention that people will think up new ways of beating their wives without leaving a mark - in theory you have left that door open and angry/sadistic people don't necessarily have limited imaginations.

[Gheelle.T]

"Discipline wife" wife-ku ma 5 jirbaa yaabay'e? Nin iyo xaaskii wey is khilaafaan, haddii hadal aan lagu kala bixi karin, maxaa is feer feer keenaaya.

[Geel_jire]

^ waa sida haboon.

 

I was commenting on the legal ruling not my opinion, these days you cannot beat your kids waaba the wife.

 

it is the last resort form of discipline and for a mature person it causes more harm than good .. because even if you are obeyed it is out of pure fear and not out of respect.

 

even for kids it needs a balance, too much and it loses the affect of detering bad behavoir as they become almost immune to the pain. not enough edab darada ku badanaysa.

 

so beat your kids, but not too much

[Som@li]

They even sell canes for wives there, it is a culture , not a religion.

[Nin-Yaaban]

I can understand.

[Prometheus]

All scripture is interpretation. Hasan El-Hanafi, the enlightened egyptian professor of philosophy at Cairo University (and perhaps one of the most rigorous muslim thinkers of his generation) once compared the holy Quran to a supermarket. One can find in a supermarket whatever one fancies, from rat poison to raspberries. On the one hand, those who want rat poision will always find their product in abundance, marshalling a ridiculous case for the utility - dare I say divinity - of domestic violence. On the other hand, those who think that any violence against one's spouse is venal and indefensible will interpret the verses in a way consonant with their humanistic ethos. Raspberries are the choice of sustenance for this group.

 

Only in the minds of benighted conservatives is violence and terror a solution to marital discord. The verdict is disastrous, but it is far from final. Educated and liberal muslims, a sizable demographic in many muslim countries, scarcely find the medieival harkings of the mullahs persuasive.

[Ismalura]

I know that there are different religious points of view on this subject and I am not knowladgable to enough to comment on them. I don't want to get into danbi intaan afarahas gali, however, I am responsible for my life and no one is 'disciplining' me. No not in this life !

[Prometheus]

^ Good for you. No reasonable person ought to accept this verdict from the obstinately misogynstic mullahs. It is intuitively (and immediately) obvious that physical "discipline" - not-too-subtle euphemism for violence - as a conflict resolution stratgey is insanely self-defeating. One wonders if the male authors of this old-fashioned humbug would agree to this demeaning gesture if societal roles were switched.

 

John Rawls, the remarkable moral thinker, argued that the morality of any subject should be considered behind a 'veil of ignorance'. Take the issue of wife-beating. Imagine that you live in a world that will be reogranized and refashioned. The social role that you will come to fill is unbeknownst to you. When the reshuffling is complete, for aught you know you might find yourself a female. Would you consent to legitimacy and morality of wife-beating?

[Chocolate and Honey]

No sane person can ever accept such barbaric ruling. A wife is not your child. She is a grown, intelligent, mature woman who is responsible for raising children. So why the F would someone "decipline" another grown person? A man touches me and he will never use that hand again. Uff!

[Prometheus]

^ These bronze-age bedouins say things like: if you discpline your wife, don't leave bruises, stay away from the face, use a soft stick, it should be symbolic. Symbolism be damned. Too bad for them, violence doesn't suddenly become more palatable when it is sugar-coated with absurdities.

[NGONGE]

Good news.

[N.O.R.F]

Wonder what the khutba will be about on Friday. Prom, please attend

 

Domestic violence will not be tolerated: judicial chief

The National staff

 

Last Updated: Oct 20, 2010

 

 

One of the UAE's top judges has warned that the full force of the law will continue to be brought against offenders in domestic violence cases, following a Federal Supreme Court ruling in a domestic violence case earlier this week.

 

Humaid al Muhairi, the Director of Judicial Inspection Department at the Ministry of Justice, told Emirates news agency WAM that domestic violence was of great concern to the Government and was not widespread within the UAE.

 

Mr al Muhairi said violence "within the framework of a family is always a regrettable event" and that the "full force of the law will continue to be brought against those who may exercise chastisement of any kind, verbal or otherwise, beyond acceptable bounds".

 

The federal court ruling involved an appeal by a man who had slapped and kicked his adult daughter, and slapped his wife. While the court upheld an earlier guilty verdict from the Sharjah Court of First Instance, the judge also acknowledged a controversial interpretation of Shariah law regarding a husband's right to discipline his wife and children by mandating that he may not leave a mark.

 

"It is worth noting, however, that in the case of the recent ruling by the UAE Supreme Court on the case in which a husband was accused of engaging in such practices, the husband was convicted of an excessive degree of chastisement of his wife," said Mr al Muhairi.

 

"The ruling further stated that the father's chastisement of his adult daughter was a breach of Sharia law. This is in line with judgments in many previous cases where persons have been convicted of the use of an unacceptable degree of violence within the context of their families."

 

Mr al Muhairi said while there was no evidence that violence within families was widespread in the United Arab Emirates, "the issue remains one of concern to Government".

 

''Our courts adhere to strict policy not to tolerate any degree of family violence whether verbal or physical."

 

The National

[Valenteenah.]

Wife-beating is culturally enshrined in those regions. I suppose there has to be a law to limit the fall out from vigorous spousal 'disciplining'.