Egyptian Cleric Yousuf Al-Badri on Wife-Beating and Women's Role in Islam

The following are excerpts from a discussion of women's rights and wife-beating in Islam:

Sheik Yusouf Al-Badri, member of the Egyptian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs:How can you claim that I don't honor my wife, while she cooks my food, bakes my bread, kneads my dough, washes my clothes and my children's? A woman nowadays tells her husband, "You must cook with me, bake with me, and knead with me."

Moderator: What is wrong with that?

Participant: She's his partner, his partner.

Sheik Yusouf Al-Badri: Listen to this true story, Mrs. Nagwa. A guy went to ask for a girl's hand in marriage. He asked her father what she specializes in, and the father answered, "She has a degree in sociology, physiology, philology, psychology, and anthropology." He gave him a list. The guy asked if she knew how to run a household, and the father said: "No, there are servants." The young man said: "I need her to know cookology, doughology, loundryology, that's what I want. I don't want her to tell me, "I'm an anthropologist."

I use beatings [on my children], but symbolically. The same goes for women: "Admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them." Even the manner of beatings was determined. If I said it was barbarism, it would mean that the All-Knowing Creator of the World doesn't know. He's barbaric.

Moderator: No, we don’t say that. We are talking about beatings…

Sheik Yusouf Al-Badri: It's the principle. There are beatings in the Koran and in the Sunna…

Moderator: But Mrs. Farida spoke about "barbaric beatings" or "barbaric violence."

Sheik Yusouf Al-Badri: No, she objected to beatings altogether.

Moderator: No, no, no, she did say so. She said, "Barbaric violence."

Sheik Yusouf Al-Badri This means we're allowed to beat.

Moderator: Sir, you support beatings, of course.

Sheik Yusouf Al-Badri: No, she said she was against beatings.

Participant: I oppose beatings, any beatings, barbaric or other…

Moderator:What does this mean?

Sheik Yusouf Al-Badri : It means that we refer to the Koran as a book with mistakes that need to be fixed…