First up the denouncements and excuses:

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Islamic leaders have condemned a Melbourne Muslim cleric who told followers it was permissible to hit their wives and force them to have sex.

But Coburg mosque cleric Samir Abu Hamza has told a confidant his message has been taken out of context and that he was referring to hitting wives in a metaphorical sense.

So let’s tick off the standard excuses, as per numerous earlier times. Like former top clerichead of Australia Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali comparing women to uncovered meat.

I’m starting to see a consistent pattern here, how about I save the newspapers some time:

Prime minister [Insert current PM here] and Islamic leaders have [condemned/strongly condemned] [remarks/footage/comments made by] [insert offending Muslim cleric name here] who told followers it was [insert misogynistic “right” or absolution of guilt of men here].

Cleric [insert Muslim cleric name here] claims his comments were taken out of context and [were not meant to refer to all women/were a metaphor].

[… body of article here ..]

[Insert other Muslim person name here] said [insert offending Muslim cleric name here] remarks were [inaccurate/not representative of Muslims/not representative of Islam] and upsetting to the Muslim community.

That should just about cover all the stories to do with idiots given mosque audience to spout their primitive philosophy on life. We can also re-use this template for other religious fools like Fred Nile etc.

The latest divinely inspired dickhead cleric clerichead was evidently too busy with his nose in the Qur’an to notice the government campaigns in the past and present in Australia (see my old blog post) meant to educate anyone with screwed up enough morals to not inherently know that women are not punching bags, that violence or forcing a wife to have sex is unacceptable. That’s regardless what the Qur’an says or you think it says. The law does not respect religious beliefs when they contradict the real laws of the country.

He says:

“In this country if the husband wants to sleep with his wife and she does not want to and she hasn’t got a sickness or whatever, there is nothing wrong with her she just does not feel like it, and he ends up sleeping with her by force … it is known to be as rape.

“Amazing, how can a person rape his wife?”

What really amazes me is that the crowd doesn’t say something. If ever this was an opportunity for the great Aussie heckler or piss-take put down to be inserted it’s when some twit is vomiting up this garbage.

By the way, this guy was giving a lecture titled “The Keys to a Successful Marriage”. A spokesperson for the latest round:

“In regards to hitting your wife, his position is that it has always been metaphorical – it’s not a whack, it’s not a slap, it’s a wake-up call.”

Yes, the millions of battered wives worldwide can take comfort in knowing that their latest black eye, broken jaw or murder by spouse is all just a metaphor for a “wake-up call”.

“First of all advise them [then] you beat them … but this is the last resort,” he says.

“After you have advised them for a long, long time then you smack them, you beat them and, please, brothers, calm down — the beating the Mohammed showed is like the toothbrush that you use to brush your teeth.

“You are not allowed to bruise them, you are not allowed to make them bleed.”

So, the question has to be asked: is the brave Samir Abu Hamza happy if a bunch of previous domestic violence victims inflict a bit of smacking, beating that doesn’t leave bruises for educational purposes. You know: perhaps some blows to the back of the head, or chin (since he’s got a big ol’ cleric beard that will hide any bruises, just like virtuous women should have a big old veil to cover theirs). There’s someone in need of a wakeup call and it isn’t the pesky independent minded woman folk.

A nameless source chimes in with a denial:

“We do not hit our women, you can ask any Muslim woman and she will tell you that, it’s not part of Islam,” the male staff member, who did not want to be named, said.

and if she says they do, just give her a metaphorical punch in the face until she says it right eh? I mean what fucking planet are these guys on: by that reckoning we should find that there’s no domestic violence at all in Muslim communities? Well that’s just bullshit, it’s an across the board issue that Islam has to acknowledge a part in and no one is saying ALL Muslim men beat their wives (although if they regard the Qur’an as the only law: then they’re well within their rights.. As would they be able to have slaves too). I’d hope that a large majority (large large!) choose (as most sane people do) to just ignore the Qur’an and people like Hamza and obey the law and good morals.

Source in the Qur’an

So where do all these cericheads get their inspiration from? It’s always been a passage in the Qur’an that I go back to time and time again to show just how incorrect, irrelevant, backward and ignorant Islamic teaching is. Succinctly and elegantly destroys the notion that the Qur’an is a perfect book. I speak of the Qur’an 4:34 and it reads like so (in PowerPoint bullets for brevity):

• Men are superior to and in charge of women because god made them that way and they’re the breadwinners in the family
• Good women should know their place and don’t sleep around or flash their girl bits around when the man is out of town
• For disobedient women (or ones you fear are disobedient) you can “admonish” them, kick them out of the bed and then beat (or scourge) them

One translator tried to act as editor for the obviously insane Mohammed and put in “(lightly)” in front of “beat”. The clerichead in this latest fit of stupidity claims insanity via metaphor. But it seems the message hasn’t really been very clear for a perfect book if we’re supposed to not do what it says:

I really feel sorry for the host of this TV program having to let this twit spout his nonsense. As she says “What do you mean by light beatings? I’d really like to know”:

An improvement to the perfect word of god

The web is full of people trying to make sense of this nonsense passage in the Qur’an or exposing similar types of ignorant Islamic speakers. Ultimately the conclusion is that the Qur’an isn’t anything divine, or perfect or useful in today’s world. I, a mere mortal, could improve the “perfect” word of god in a very easy fashion: throw away 4:34 and read it thus:

Men and women are created equal and should have equal opportunities and responsibilities. Neither has the right to force the other to do something against their will. Neither should ever be violent towards the other.

Seems like my version would be a lot less open to interpretation. But who am I to question the perfect word of god eh?

Just like Qur’anic justification of slavery this line and others expose the source for the Qur’an as purely of men on this Earth and typical of a time when the minds of those writing it couldn’t comprehend a future where things were different. Sure: at the time perhaps having a multistep process to disciplining your wife was a step better than just taking her out and killing her, but we’ve moved on quite a bit since those days (at least in the developed world). The problems of domestic violence and rape are by no means restricted to religious reasons, but it sure doesn’t help when people take up these teachings as divine justification for barbaric actions.