The newly-appointed NSW police commissioner has lambasted a view propagated among some Muslim Australians that Muslim husbands are permitted to hit their wives.
In a video discussion posted on the Women of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia's Facebook page on April 8, two women from the hardline fringe group said that the permission to strike a disobedient wife was "a beautiful blessing" but it should only be soft and "symbolic".
The women, western Sydney primary school teacher Reem Allouche and Indian-born scholar Atika Latifi, also said that Muslim men have slower reaction times and no ability to multi-task but are physically stronger and obliged to be the leader in a marriage.
It was widely condemned, including in a statement signed by 34 sheikhs and prominent Muslims which said the promotion of violence is "against the spirit and letter of Islam" and "undermines the love, mercy and mutual support that should define a Muslim marriage". [The Sydney Morning Herald] Read more
