Timur Kamaev, a prominent Imam from Russia’s republic of Tatarstan, has sparked a nationwide scandal this week after releasing a video where he appears to instruct believers on the proper ways to beat one’s wife.
Released on Monday as part of the “Tea With Hazrat” podcast series, the original video has since been removed by its publisher, but this has done little to quell the heated debate that has spread beyond Russia’s Muslim community.
The Moscow Times has compiled everything you need to know about the controversy.
Who is Timur Kamaev?
Kamaev, 30, is one of the most high-profile Muslim clerics in Russia and the head of the Irek Mosque, located in the heart of Tatarstan’s capital, Kazan. The mosque, opened in 2018, was built in memory of Irek Minnikhanov, the son of Tatarstan’s head Rustam Minnikhanov, who was among the 50 passengers killed in the 2013 Tatarstan Airlines flight No. 363 crash. Tatarstan’s flagship business daily, Business Online, describes the mosque as “frequently visited by Tatarstan’s VIPs.”
What is ‘Tea With Hazrat’?
“Tea With Hazrat” is a podcast produced by Tatarstan’s flagship state-owned news agency, Tatar-Inform. In each episode, Kamaev answers questions about Islamic practices allegedly submitted by listeners. Past episodes have discussed topics such as “social networks and gadgets in Islam,” “superstitions associated with funeral practices,” and “whether games are allowed in Islam.” In line with the podcast’s name, Kamaev is seen enjoying a cup of tea and sweets inside the Irek Mosque in every video.
What did Kamaev say in the latest video?
In the latest episode of “Tea With Hazrat,” Kamaev addressed the question of how believers should interpret the 34th verse in the fourth chapter of the Quran, which speaks about how a man should deal with disloyalty on the part of his wife.
“You should always start with admonition, that is, try to explain to your wife why she is in the wrong. You should always speak to her beautifully and wisely,” said Kamaev.
Next, according to Kamaev, a disobedient wife can be punished by sleeping in separate beds.
“In extraordinary cases,” Kamaev stated, “the āyah [verse] suggests beating.”
Beatings, according to the Imam, are meant to allow the woman “to understand that she is doing something wrong” and can be done using a miswak, a teeth-cleaning twig made from the wood of the Salvadora persica tree.
“Gently hit the wife with the miswak a couple of times — but work the arm only from the elbow down, not the entire shoulder joint — with small blows,” said Kamaev.
“The point [of beating] is not to injure the person, not to leave bruises, but to gently say ‘stop, you are doing something wrong, your husband is already unhappy, he has reached the point where he is raising his hand’,” Kamaev continued. “But here we must understand that the terms ‘beating’ and ‘beating up’ mean different things.”
How are people reacting?
“The Prophet [Muhammad] never beat [his wives] or approved of physical violence in the family. I do not think that [beating someone] is acceptable in families and relationships,” prominent Islamic psychologist and sexologist Khava Shaidullina told the Kazan Online news outlet, adding that she believes the verse in question advises the husband to grant his wife a divorce instead of beating her.
Prominent women’s rights activist Alyona Popova said on Telegram that Kamaev’s words should be seen as “nothing but propaganda of violence” that cannot be justified.
Popova’s words were echoed in a statement issued by Marem, a support group helping female victims of domestic abuse and violence in the majority-Muslim republics of the North Caucasus.
“A respected person, a religious figure whose recommendations are valued and followed… says that physical punishment is acceptable. This will be perceived as a go-ahead for assault. No one will go into detail to understand what kind of stick the Imam is talking about,” the group stated.
Some, however, chose to back Kamaev. Aynur Birgalin, the head Mufti of neighboring Bashkortostan, said that hitting someone with the miswak “wouldn’t cause any pain.” “Are you trying to say that hitting someone with a twig is such a scary thing or something?” Birgalin told Kazan Online.
What are officials saying?
Tatar-Inform deleted the video from YouTube following widespread public backlash and issued a statement on Tuesday morning saying that Kamaev’s words had been “taken out of context” by the media. Later that day, the agency issued a follow-up statement titled “We Consider Violence Unacceptable in Any Religion.”
The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Tatarstan, the region’s highest religious authority, also backed Kamaev, advising his critics to “watch the podcast in its entirety.”
Tatarstan’s head, Rustam Minnikhanov, has yet to comment on the issue.
