It is permitted in Islam for a man to beat his "stubborn" wife during a marital disagreement, a Muslim judge ruled.

In a report originally carried by the Palestinian Media Watch and picked up by WND, Palestinian Authority mufti of Gaza, Hassan Al-Laham said: "Allah created a solution for this (i.e., marital strife). How? Allah said: Warn them [the wives], and separate from them, and hit them, and bring an arbitrator from his family and an arbitrator from her family. [Only] after this comes divorce. The husband starts with a warning."

In an interview on Palestinian television on Feb. 8, the Muslim jurist tackled marital discord, including the steps that need to be taken by the husband when his wife disagrees with him or when she acts in a way the husband does not approve of.

Al-Laham said once a woman becomes a wife, she becomes "under the command" of her husband. If she displeases her husband, Al-Laham said the husband should first warn his wife, telling her "You shouldn't do this and that."

The warning could be followed by separation if the wife continued to speak against her husband, he said.

"The separation means separation in the bedroom, in the home. Not outside. In other words, he will not show other people that there is a problem. But inside the home, at bedtime, if he separates from her and does not speak to her in the bedroom, she will ask why, and he will explain: 'You made a mistake and I am angry about it.' Perhaps this will lead to reconciliation," the Muslim jurist said.

If the warning and separation fail to convince the wife to reconcile with her husband, the latter now has the option to hit her, Al-Laham said.

But the Muslim jurist said there are restrictions to the physical punishment that a husband can inflict on his wife.

"The hitting [should] not make her ugly. The prophet [Muhammad] said: 'Do not hit the face and do not make her ugly' ... As it is said [in a Hadith] 'If not for this (i.e., the fear of retaliation), I would give you painful blows with a small brush.' ... The hitting is not meant to disfigure, harm, or degrade."

He said the physical beating should "be like a joke."

"He will hit her jokingly. Not a blow that breaks a bone or makes the face ugly, and he will not curse and the like. This hitting is a kind of reminder that the love and friendship that Allah commands,"Al-Laham said.