The Qur’an teaches that men are superior to women and should beat those from whom they “fear disobedience”: “Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them.” — Qur’an 4:34
As a result of that passage and others in the Hadith, physical abuse of women is taken for granted in many Muslim countries. When The Stoning of Soraya M was being filmed in Jordan, the Jordanian extras cheered on a character who was beating his wife openly on the street. The fact that this man in Iran suffered immediate consequences after he slapped a woman is yet another indication that many, many people in that country are fed up with living under Sharia.
