Keysar Trad, who said men should only hit women as a "last resort", has been dumped as the president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC).
At an emergency meeting in Sydney on Saturday morning, Mr Trad was replaced by Rateb Jneid.
AFIC represents Muslims in Australia and is responsible for several Islamic schools. It also has the power to grant Halal certification.
It had been ordered to hold fresh elections by the New South Wales Supreme Court after a messy internal dispute.
There has been significant internal squabbling at AFIC since allegations surfaced in 2015 that some of its schools were operating at a profit and sending money back to the parent organisation.
Mr Trad had served as AFIC president since late 2016, and made headlines in February when he claimed in an interview on Sky News the Koran states it is OK for a husband to beat his wife, but only as a last resort. [ABC] Read more
