Is it Ok to Beat Your Wife? By Mrs Vera West

    Ah, multiculturalism, simply wonderful…According to a group of women it is alright for Muslim men to hit their wives: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/its-ok-to-hit-wives-say-hizb-uttahrir-women/news-story/52dd838887cb0a0c32686c7a31cb96d8. As I want to get this accurate, I will attempt the magic trick of cutting and pasting from the article with my electronic scissors:

“Muslim men are allowed to hit their wives — but only gently, and not with fists, instead using short sticks and pieces of fabric, according to a new video produced by the Australian women’s branch of radical Islamic political movement Hizb ut-Tahrir.

     The video, posted to Facebook by the Women of Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia, features a Muslim woman, who identifies herself as Sydney primary-school teacher Reem Allouche, demonstrating the appropriate ways by which Muslim men may discipline their disobedient wives.
She says the “hitting” must be done in a “managed way” with a short stick, a twisted scarf or a scrap of fabric.
“It’s symbolic,” she says.
A fellow panellist adds: “And a beautiful blessing.”

Ms Allouche tells the audience of 26 veiled women in Sydney’s west that Muslim husbands are in a leadership position in marriage and “it goes hand in hand that he would have the right to undertake disciplinary measures”.

Panellist Atika Latifi agrees: “He is permitted—not obliged, not encouraged—but permitted, to hit her. That is what everyone is talking about. It should not cause pain. Not harsh.”
Ms Latifi then produces a “sivaak”, a small stick, traditionally used for cleaning teeth.
“I got one, because I wanted to show you, it’s a stick, a small stick,” she says, as Ms Allouche hits her with it.

They then discuss other hitting devices, including “a coiled scarf” and “a folded handkerchief”. “What kind of hitting is that, with a coiled scarf?” Ms Latifi says.

Ms Allouche says: “We have a piece of fabric here, to demonstrate” and hits her again.
She adds: “It’s very evident that this is symbolic in nature. And it’s not what people have understood … This is the reality of that disciplinary option.”

    My reaction to this is one of suspicion. The hitting seems trivial, almost meaningless…hitting with a scarf? I do not believe it. It would serve no purpose and is therefore suspect.
What about this:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-04-24/confronting-domestic-violence-in-islam/8458116; https://wikiislam.net/wiki/Wife_Beating_in_Islam;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_and_domestic_violence.
This may be closer to reality.