Karzai — another U.S. “friend and ally,” by the way — is being criticized for permitting a law that would make it legal for men to rape their wives. So he said that it will be reviewed and if anything in it contravenes the country’s constitution or Sharia law, “measures will be taken.” Let’s see some of the scriptures the fuqaha (jurists) will be evaluating in their attempt to determine sharia’s take on this issue:
Allah declares: “Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them” — Koran 4:34.
Muhammad said: “If a husband calls his wife to his bed [i.e. to have sexual relation] and she refuses and causes him to sleep in anger, the angels will curse her till morning.” — Bukhari 4.54.460.
In another hadith, Muhammad says: “By him in Whose Hand lies my life, a woman can not carry out the right of her Lord, till she carries out the right of her husband. And if he asks her to surrender herself [to him for sexual intercourse] she should not refuse him even if she is on a camel’s saddle.” — Ibn Majah 1854 .
Seems that if this law is going to be reviewed by faithful Muslims out to implement the will of Allah, women are out of luck, as attested by the unambiguity of the preceding scriptures.
“Karzai: Controversial women’s law to be reviewed,” for the Jerusalem Post, April 4:
Responding to criticism from around the world, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that a new law that critics say makes it legal for men to rape their wives will be studied and possibly sent back to parliament for review.
Karzai said he ordered the Justice Ministry to review the law, and if anything in it contravenes the country’s constitution or Shariah law, “measures will be taken.”
The United Nations Development Fund for Women has said the law “legalizes the rape of a wife by her husband.”
The United States has urged Karzai to review the law, and Karzai said he has spoken with US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton about it. Canadian officials have also criticized the legislation.