Cleric: Lebanese Wives May Fight Back

A Muslim woman is allowed to fight back in self-defense if she is hit by her husband, Lebanon's top Shiite cleric declared Tuesday in a ruling rare for the region's male-dominated Islamic society.

Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah issued the fatwa, or religious edict, on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

"We consider that if a man used physical violence against a woman and she could not defend herself except by retaliating with similar violence, she can do so out of self-defense," Fadlallah said in his fatwa.

A statement by his office said Fadlallah stressed that although Islam gives men supremacy over their wives in household affairs, it "does not approve of a man using any sort of violence against a woman, even in the form of insults and harsh words."

Fadlallah is the top religious authority for Lebanon's 1.2 million Shiites but has followers throughout the Mideast. He is considered a militant by the West ... // 50% Remaining