'How to beat your wife' imam must study equality

Madrid, Spain - An imam who wrote a book on how to beat your wife without leaving marks on her body has been ordered by a judge in Spain to study the country's constitution.

The judge told Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, imam of a mosque in the southern resort of Fuengirola, to spend six months studying three articles of the constitution and the universal declaration of human rights.

Mr Kamal was sentenced to 15 months in jail and fined £1,500 last year after being found guilty of inciting violence against women. However, despite objections from Spain's socialist government, a judge released him after 22 days in jail on condition that he undertake a re-education course.

A commission recommends that imams should speak Spanish and have a basic knowledge of human rights and Spanish law.

In his book Women in Islam, published four years ago, Kamal wrote that according to Islamic law, a disobedient wife could be beaten.

"The blows should be concentrated on the hands and feet using a rod that is thin and light so that it does not leave scars or bruises on the body,'' he wrote.