Sheikh Taleb al-Khozaei, a cleric who was visiting Australia last week has sparked outrage after telling a Sydney mosque audience that it's acceptable for husbands to beat their wives, The Daily Mail reported.
The visiting cleric made the statement during a guest sermon he was giving at Sydney's Hussainayet Ale Yassin Mosque earlier this month.
Speaking in Arabic, al-Khozaei cited the 34th ayah from the Quranic Surat An-Nisa, explaining methods a man can resort to if his wife becomes 'disobedient'.
"The first method is through advice, the second method is by abandoning them in the bedroom by turning his back towards her at night or sleeping in another place."
According to the cleric, if the above two actions fail, that's when 'beating' is permissible.
"The third method is beating, the last resort. But which type of beating, don't get me wrong! Islam is not a terrorist religion. The beating that doesn't cause an affect and is not beating for revenge," he said.
"He must beat her only enough to bring her back home if she leaves. He must beat her in a way that doesn't turn the skin red or dark," he added.
"Beat her in a way that doesn't turn the skin red or dark"
After a video of the sermon went viral, officials at The Hussainayet Ale Yassin Mosque denounced the sermon given by al-Khozaei and said they would not be inviting him to visit again.
In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, a mosque official said:
"We don't condone it and in our community we don't accept hitting of any kind. I didn't know that he was going to say something like that and after he finished his speech I did tell him that he shouldn't have said it. Because of that we are not inviting him back anymore."
'I also was going to take that video of off website but I had forgotten about it, thanks for the reminder," he added.
"Islam categorically prohibits and denounces the abuse of women"
This isn't the first time the 34th ayah from the Quranic Surat An-Nisa, is used to justify the beating of women.
Last year, a video of two Muslim women explaining the same sura sparked outrage online.
Shared by the Australian branch of the radical Islamic political organization Hizb ut-Tahrir, the footage saw the women demonstrate how Muslim men can beat their wives.
At the time, Australia's first Muslim member of federal parliament, Ed Husic, condemned the video and spoke out against domestic violence.
"It’s not acceptable in any form to strike anyone, either between husband and wife or anywhere," Husic told the Australian daily media outlet.
"Violence is not an answer or acceptable outcome whatsoever and I believe they are right to describe it as thus," he added.
An Australian Muslim collaborative including some prominent Australian Muslims also issued a statement against the video at the time.
In it, they asserted that any form of domestic violence contradicts Islamic teachings.
"Islam categorically prohibits and denounces the abuse of women. There is absolutely no justification for men to demean, threaten or abuse women, whether symbolically or otherwise," the statement read.
"Any promotion of violence is against the spirit and letter of Islam," it added.