Spanish Women Sue Islamic Author For Wife-Beating Advice

Spanish women’s organizations sued a prominent Islamic leader for writing a book that offers detailed instructions on wife-beating. Spain’s Federation of Separated and Divorced Women, which presented the lawsuit on July 24th in Barcelona, accused Mohammad Kemal Mustafa, author of Women in Islam, for inciting violence and discrimination against women and violating article 510 of the Spanish code. “That article expressly states that advocating violence or discrimination on grounds of sex or family situation is a punishable offense,” remarked the federation’s lawyer, Maria Jose Varela. Mustafa, who as Imam of Fuengirola leads one of the country’s largest Muslim communities, describes in his 120-page book how to beat a woman while avoiding discovery; the fine and light rod, Mustafa recommends, does not “leave scars or bruises on the body.”