Wife-beating is fine but don’t leave marks, rules UAE court

Islamic sharia law allows a man to “discipline” his wife and children provided he does not leave physical marks, according to a ruling by the supreme court in the United Arab Emirates. The ruling was reported on Monday in the Abu Dhabi-based newspaper The National.

The judgement was made in the case of a man who slapped and kicked his daughter and slapped his wife, injuring both slightly. But the federal court in Abu Dhabi, the UAE capital, also said their bruises were evidence that the father had abused his legal right.

Generally, the UAE has made progress in promoting women’s education, entrepreneurship and political participation. It has a civil law jurisdiction though Islamic law is applied to aspects of family law.

The court upheld the right of the unnamed man from Sharjah – one of the seven emirates – to beat his wife and children to “discipline” them after he had exhausted two other options: admonition and then abstaining from sleeping with his wife. Scholars differ on what constitutes “beating” but agree it must not be severe.

It was the degree of severity that put the man in breach of the law. But his daughter was 23, and therefore too old to be disciplined by her father, the court said.

The Sharjah court of first instance fined the father for abuse. The decision was upheld by Sharjah’s court of appeals but he appealed against the verdict at the federal supreme court in Abu Dhabi.

“Although the law permits the husband to use his right (to discipline), he has to abide by the limits of this right,” wrote Chief Justice Falah al-Hajeri in his ruling. “If the husband abuses this right to discipline, he cannot be exempted from punishment.”