Palestinian Authority's Mufti Ikrima Sabri Criticizes the West for Treating Husbands Who Have Sex with Their Wives against Their Will as Rapists

The following are excerpts from a lecture by Palestinian Authority Mufti Ikrima Sabri. Tanweer TV aired this lecture on May 5, 2005:

Sabri: Brothers and Sisters, it is no secret that in the West, having a mistress is permitted. They even have some laws, in the West, that if a husband has sex with his wife against her will, or, in other words, when she doesn't want it, he is tried and jailed. However, if he sleeps with his mistress, and she consents, there's nothing wrong with it. These are the laws of the West. There was a case in the West, in which a Muslim married another wife, according to religious law, and the first wife sued him, claiming he was a polygamist. What could he do? He lied in his testimony, saying: "This woman is not my wife, she's my girlfriend, my mistress." So the court released him, and he was no longer considered an offender.

This is what happens in the West, as well as under the Israeli occupation authorities. Some Muslims have been jailed for marrying another wife. But if one declares: "this is my mistress," it is permitted. Is my time up? Finally, a woman who was rebellious against her husband sued him for sleeping with her against her will. He was treated as a rapist. The husband was considered a rapist and was severely punished. He was punished as a rapist merely because he slept with his wife against her will.