Sunni Islam’s highest authority has approved a woman’s right to fight back if her husband uses violence against her. The declaration by Sheikh Abdel Hamid al-Atrash, who heads the Al-Azhar University committee for fatwas or religious rulings, comes after similar rulings by religious leaders in Saudi Arabia and Turkey,  Egypt’s Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper has reported. “A wife has the legitimate right to hit her husband in order to defend herself,” Atrash said. “Everyone has the right to defend themselves, whether they are a man or a woman … because all human beings are equal before God,” he said. Over the last few days, Saudi Sheikh Abdel Mohsen al-Abyakan stressed the fact that a wife should resort to “the same kind of violence” as her husband used against her, whether it be with a leather strap or a wire cable, the paper said.

 Source: http://www.missionandjustice.org/womens-right-to-beat-husbands-backed/

*********

A Turkish leader seemed to have said that women are allowed to hit twice as hard in cases of domestic violence!

This is all well and good.....but I was leaning toward NON-VIOLENCE

 Of course, but in case.....

you know.. I heard that in Kuwait, they have a problem of women hitting their husbands  too much!!! Isnt that soo funny?? Just imagine a man hiding and quivering from his wife under a coffee table!!!!LOOOOOOOOOOOL!!

I dont think it is very funny.  Any violence is disgusting.  In some ways it can be worse for men whose wives hit them as they are ashamed to admit it (it makes them sound weak) and also because convention dictates that they can´t defend themselves against a woman.

As to this law that women now have a "right" to defend themselves against attack....it is as mixed up and completely ridiculous as the rest of their laws...

Do you think that the below statement exaggerated or is it really the situation in Turkey?

"

Domestic violence is a grave problem in turkey with as many as 90% of turkish women experience violence at the hands of their husbands and boyfriends.
...
although the problem of domestic  violence is extensive in turkey there is no comprehensive legislation concerning domestic violence. "

(source: http://www.omct.org/pdf/VAW/Publications/2003/Eng_2003_09_Turkey.pdf 

 NO NO i didnt mean it seriously, none of it, it was a joke!

 Oh yeah, nearly all turkish women walking around with a purple eye the whole day ...

 I don´t think that domestic violence just means that these women are hit in the face.....there is grabbing, pushing, intimidation, mental bullying....it is all part of domestic violence.  I think that 90% might be a little exaggerated, but I don´t know if there is anyway to get an accurate number on this. 

First of all this is so sad....every human should have a right to defend their self.  At least their making a little progression...allowing women now to do this.  I´ll be interested to see if this will have any impact on abuse or will it create more...

Well... considering that the Holy Book tells men that they can beat their wifes, it IS quite a progress that they decided that a woman should have the same right. It might take another couple hundred years before they say that maybe "a husband should never hit his wife and vice versa"...

 well the study was done by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). It is an international NGO that cooperates with the united nations so supposedly the information should be reliable!

I too felt that the number 90% is a bit exaggerated and that´s why I asked.

As Catwoman said, all forms of violence should be taken into consideration, verbal & physical.

 I dont think it does......

But dont ask me about religion, im ot so educated about that topic, but i know some stuff!

mmmmm interesting ,

 My view is that  of course I would  say that anyone no matter male/ female  should have the right to defend themselves ,if they are abused either physically or mentally.

But i see a difference between this. and the fact that if someone abuses you (longterm) then you could have the right to do it back..Where does this get you ?  If I get hit with a belt and I then hit him with a belt, then I am as bad as him and also now we are both in pain. It would probably get me nowhere as i am only responding to his aggression which has alot to do with power anyway.

Perhaps we should look to educate those that feel they need to intimidate male/female partners, and assist those that are abused to feel empowered to stand up against it through other means..  as in leave the relationship

I don´t think this a matter of who is better.  It´s a matter of defending yourself if you are physcially attacked.  If a man starts beating me....I´m certainly not going to try to rationalize with him...my instinct would be to either run like hell or grab the first thing I could use to ward him off.  If this means grabbing a bat and hitting him...to save my life I would.  It´s called self defense.  I don´t believe in perpetuating the situation, but I´m also not going to accept being attacked either.  So I´m not sure what other means you are referring to.......

 hence the reason i wrote that i think anybody who is being attacked has the right to defend themselves

 loooooool!! that part made me laugh alot cause im imagining it but in a comic way

 I understand what you meant about two wrongs don´t make a right.  I know here in the states they have put stricter guidelines for domestic violence.  Sometimes both the wife and husband are taking to jail when the police can´t conclude who started it.

 Of course it is exaggrated... hmmm UN reliable?? It is to say something like US reliable . How do they calculated the 90%? According to surveys which was asked to 100 women from newspapers who were suffered from husband violence? As i lived in many parts of Turkia because of my job and my father´s job, i can say thats no different than the oher countries except the south east part where the system is feodalism dominated by Kurds...

In Scotland women have been battering their husbands for years.

 Is that why you can be so cranky? 

+100000000000

in Scotland, men have been battering women for hundreds of years, but I doubt that would ever ´catch your eye´.

 Ah I see the cavalry have arrived! Where are the other 99999999998 by way? I didn´t think I was that unpopular.

I´m just wondering how long Trudy spends trying to find these stories / reports whatever  She has certainly become the "master" at it.  

Allowed to beat your husband .........................  it should be taken for granted, when the need arises     ............... no ! thats enough !

5 minutes per day. My source? A Dutch site that gives me all those items. Just search for the English version at Zaman/Hurriyet/Turkish Press which are bookmarked in my favourites. Et voila!