Photo: MEMRITV
Horrifying.
By Christine Schoenwald — Written on May 13, 2016
A Saudi video that was recorded in February, but was released recently via the Washington DC-based Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), shows Khaled Al-Saqaby sitting alone in a wooded area instructing how men should discipline their wives.
Specifically, he's instructing men on how to properly beat their wives if their wives disobey them. The message is clear that in marriage, there isn't anything resembling equality; men need to take charge and rule the home.
If a woman disobeys her husband, Al-Saqaby advises that certain steps be taken.
"The first step is to remind her of your rights and of her duties according to Allah. Then comes the second step — forsaking her in bed. The third step, beating, has to correspond with the necessary Islamic conditions before taking action. The beating should not be performed with a rod, nor should it be a headband or sharp object. Instead, husbands should use a 'tooth-cleaning twig or with a handkerchief' to beat their wife. The wife will feel that she was wrong in the way she treated her husband," says Al-Saqaby.
As if domestic violence toward women wasn't awful enough, Al-Saqaby goes on to say that his teaching of how to beat a wife isn't all-inclusive and that sometimes men will beat their wives without following his steps when women provoke their husbands. He also claims that sometimes women are so bad that only a beating can put them in their place.
"In addition, sometimes a woman makes a mistake that may lead her husband to beat her. I'm sad to say there are some women who say, 'Go ahead. If you're a real man, beat me.' She provokes them," Al-Saqaby says.
While watching a man sitting in the woods isn't disturbing, reading the translation of his words is horrifying. That an educated man could advise men on how to abuse their women and treat them so badly is disgusting.