Yes, Qur’an 4:34 really does say “beat them.” Perhaps if Muslim apologists — professional and amateur — and spokespeople spent less time trying to convince Western audiences that the Qur’an doesn’t really quite say what it says, and focused that same level of effort instead on stopping their coreligionists’ alleged “misunderstandings” (including imams) and “cultural” misconduct, there would be fewer stories like this for us to so rudely report on.
Of course, real progress would require a forthright acknowledgment of the contents of the Qur’an. No more tap-dancing around “context” or playing the “lost in translation” card. And no more trying to excuse the inexcusable.
Oh, and just for a touch of irony, what has the imam been lecturing about at the Catholic university in Munich? Non-violence.
More on this story. “Muslim imam who lectures on non-violence in Germany is arrested for beating up his wife,” by Alan Hall for the Daily Mail, December 2 (thanks to Ken):
A Muslim imam who lectures on non-violence and advises the German government on interfaith issues has been arrested in Germany for beating up his wife.
Sheikh Abu Adam, 40, is now on remand in Munich while his wife, 31, is being guarded by police.
She was allegedly assaulted so badly that she suffered a broken nose and shoulder and numerous cuts and bruises.
Media reports claimed the woman, who has borne one of his ten children, wanted to live a more ‘western’ lifestyle and was allegedly attacked after telling her husband.
The police said they received a call from a lawyer hired by the victim.
Adam is alleged to have shouted a verse from the Koran at his wife as he beat her.
Qur’an 4:34 is quoted almost entirely below:
The line said: ‘Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because God has guarded them.
‘As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them.’
The imam is said to have refused to let police officers into his home, but they forced their way past him because they feared the woman’s life was in danger.
Sheikh Adam is the Egyptian imam of the Darul Quran Mosque in Munich.
He is facing charges of causing grievous bodily harm and could face a jail term if convicted.
A week ago, he held a lecture at the city’s Catholic University entitled ‘An Islam which distances itself from violence’.
He also spoke at a recent conference called ‘meeting Islam in Europe’ and met German justice Sabine Leutheusser Schnarrenberger there.
His “moderate” credentials should be in jeopardy right about now, between this and his having three wives, as was reported earlier. And to demonstrate further the uselessness of frequently applied labels:
Adam was assigned bodyguards on the outside because of his calls for Muslims to reject radical Islam. He is also being guarded while on remand from racist prisoners.