Man can beat his wife and children 'as long as no physical marks are made'

Published: 12:32AM BST 19 Oct 2010

The United Arab Emirates's highest judicial body has ruled that a man can beat his wife and young children as long as the beating leaves no physical marks.


The decision by the Federal Supreme Court shows the strong influence of Islamic law in the United Arab Emirates despite its international appeal, in which foreign residents greatly outnumber the local population.

The court made the ruling earlier this month in the case of a man who left cuts and bruises on his wife and adult daughter after a beating.


Dubai's The National newspaper reported that the wife suffered injuries to her lower lip and teeth, and the daughter had bruises on her right hand and right knee. The court ruled that the bruises were evidence that the father had abused his Sharia right.

It says the man was guilty of harming the women but noted that Islamic codes allow for "discipline" if no marks are left.

It also says children who have reached "adulthood" – approximately puberty – cannot be struck.

"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 a ruling issued this month and released in a court document.

Dr Ahmed al Kubaisi, the head of Sharia Studies at UAE University and Baghdad University, told The National that under Sharia beating one's wife was an option to prevent the breakdown of the family.

He said it should be used only as a substitute to resorting to the police.

"If a wife committed something wrong, a husband can report her to police," Dr al Kubaisi said. "But sometimes she does not do a serious thing or he does not want to let others know; when it is not good for the family. In this case, hitting is a better option."

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Saudi prince found guilty of murder in London
19 Oct 2010 14:49:02 GMT
Source: Reuters
LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A Saudi prince was found guilty on Tuesday of murdering his servant in their room at a luxury London hotel during a ferocious beating that prosecutors said had a sexual element.

The prince, Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser al Saud, 34, was convicted at the Old Bailey of murdering Bandar Abdulaziz, 32.

The court had heard that the two were believed to be having some kind of sexual relationship.

Bandar Abdulaziz was found beaten and strangled in the Landmark Hotel in central London in February.

The court was told the prince had attacked him in the culminating act of a campaign of sadistic abuse, the Press Association reported.

Al Saud, who will be sentenced on Wednesday, had admitted manslaughter but denied murder.

The servant had spent the previous three years travelling as an occasional companion of the prince, whose father is a nephew of the Saudi king and whose mother is a daughter of the king.

He had suffered "a series of heavy punches or blows to his head and face", leaving his left eye closed and swollen, his lips split open and his teeth chipped and broken, prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said.

There also were injuries to his ears and internal bruising and bleeding to the brain, as well as severe injuries to the neck consistent with manual compression, the court was told.

It was not the first time the victim had been beaten.

Closed-circuit TV cameras had caught Bandar Abdulaziz being hit by the defendant in the hotel lift on Jan. 22 and Feb. 5 and outside a restaurant on the night leading up to his death, Laidlaw said.

Saud said he and his servant were "friends and equals" and that he was heterosexual, jurors were told.

Laidlaw said "The evidence establishes quite conclusively that he is either gay or that he has homosexual tendencies." (Reporting by Stefano Ambrogi; Editing by Steve Addison)