Mild punching
They haven’t thought this through.
Sermon says men can ‘physically discipline’ rebellious wives “as a last resort”
Last month, Birmingham mosque Green Lane Masjid and Community Centre (GLMCC) live streamed a sermon in which Aqeel Mahmood (pictured) said “discipline in the case of rebellion” is one of the “rights of the husband over the wife”.
He said: “The husband is a leader. He has his responsibilities. Physical discipline is a last resort on the condition that it doesn’t cause pain, injury, fear or humiliation”.
Quick question: if physical discipline doesn’t cause pain, injury, fear or humiliation then what does it cause? What’s it for? What’s the point of it?
It’s a ridiculous claim. The whole point of “physical discipline” is to cause pain. That’s true when parents do it to children and when husbands do it to wives. Here’s a little-known fact: there’s a reason it’s a man blathering about disciplining wives and not the other way around. What’s the reason? Same as the reason parents discipline children and not the other way around. Men hit women because they can. Women can’t compete.
It’s not discipline, it’s anger and contempt and domination.
Mahmood also said a husband has a “right” to “intimacy” with his wife and a wife must not leave the house without her husband’s permission. Mahmood is understood to be an imam at the centre.
The charity’s “welfare and wellbeing” services include a “domestic abuse support” service.
The National Secular Society, which has reported GLMCC to the Charity Commission twice since 2024 over misogyny concerns, has sent this latest information to the regulator.
GLMCC was featured in the NSS’s September report on misogyny in religious charities, which was raised during Prime Minister’s Questions last month. Keir Starmer said he would “make sure” to look into the specific issue of religious charities and misogyny.
Let us know when you’ve looked and what you’re going to do, please.
H/t Jesus and Mo
Good grief. Of course physical punishment ‘discipline’ is intended to cause pain and humiliation, because it is the fear of future pain and humiliation that controls future behaviour. We all know that. I suspect Mahmood if taken to account would equivocate and say something along the lines of “well not no pain or fear at all, but nothing that would require hospitalisation.” Ack. Disgusting man. Should be said there are Christians who would go along with this as well.
I’m guessing the domestic abuse support would actually only be useful towards the hospitalisation end of the spectrum. Anything less and the counselling advice would be respectful and obedient, don’t anger your husband, and of course you should let him have sex whenever and however he wants. Just a horror story.
I’m reminded of Pope Francis who advocated hitting children “without humiliating them”:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31163219
It should be obvious that having someone who can hit you without you being able to retaliate is humiliating in itself.
A Google search yields the following from AI:
“Cases of women killing violent partners while they are asleep constitute a distinct subset of intimate partner homicide, often legally framed around the intersection of severe, chronic domestic abuse (Battered Woman Syndrome) or, more rarely, sleep disorders (parasomnia).
“Legal outcomes in these cases are complex and have evolved to recognize that victims of long-term, extreme violence may feel their only opportunity to escape or survive is when their abuser is asleep.
“Notable Cases of Wives Killing Sleeping Partners:
“Ilknur Caliskan (Australia, 2023-2025): In a 2025 case, prosecutors dropped murder charges against a Victorian woman who claimed she stabbed her sleeping husband during a camping trip. Her defense hinged on parasomnia (a sleep disorder), supported by a sleep study suggesting she was not in a conscious, voluntary state.
“Francine Hughes (USA, 1977): The ‘Burning Bed’ case. After years of brutal physical and sexual abuse, Francine Hughes poured gasoline around her husband’s bed and set it on fire while he slept. She was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
“Kiranjit Ahluwalia (UK, 1989): After a history of severe domestic violence, she poured petrol on her sleeping husband’s feet and set them on fire. Initially convicted of murder, her conviction was reduced to manslaughter on appeal, recognizing the concept of diminished responsibility due to the ‘battered woman syndrome’.
“Helen Naslund (Canada, 2011): Shot her abusive husband in the back of the head while he slept, later dumping his body in a pond. She was sentenced to 18 years, a case that highlighted the difficulty of using self-defence when the victim is not in immediate, imminent danger.
“Dale Lee Vella (Australia, 2021-2023): A NSW woman who shot her sleeping husband in the head was found guilty of murder, despite her claims of being in an abusive relationship, showing that self-defense is not always accepted in non-confrontational killings.
“Key Legal Defences and Concepts:
“Battered Woman Syndrome (BWS): Often used to explain that a victim of chronic abuse may perceive a permanent, underlying threat, making a ‘pre-emptive strike’ seem like the only way to survive.
“Parasomnia/Sleepwalking: Used in rare cases (such as the 2025 Caliskan case) to argue that the killing was an involuntary act, meaning the ‘mental element’ of murder was not present.
“Provocation/Diminished Responsibility: Used to reduce a murder charge to manslaughter, recognizing that the long-term abuse led to a ‘loss of control’ or reduced capacity.
“Evolution of Legal Understanding:
“Historically, ‘self-defence’ required an imminent threat, making it hard to defend a sleeping partner killing. However, jurisdictions (particularly in Australia and Canada) have reformed laws to allow for the context of domestic violence, acknowledging that abusers are most vulnerable when asleep, making it the only ‘safe’ time to retaliate.”
I, Omar, as a 10-years-old child, was confronted by the horrific sight of my father bashing up my mother, which began as an argument between them over the infidelity he was practicing. (He had a girlfriend on the side.) As a result, my mother took to the bottle and became an unreachable alcoholic, and the violence continued for about 3 years. My father’s girlfriend finally quit. She knew that my mother was a hopeless drunk, but nothing of the violence that brought it about. However, she did not fancy herself in the role of a home-wrecker, and was a basically decent woman.
Fortunately, my only sibling (a late sister) was away in a special boarding school for mentally retarded children. She was seriously so.
Quite a childhood, many of the effects of which (~ 76 years later) I am only now coming to understand and appreciate (if the latter is the right word.)