"A wife has the legitimate right to hit her husband to protect herself," Sheikh Abdel Hamid al-Atrash, who heads the university, said, adding that everyone has the right to self-defense as "men and women are equal before God."
Fethullah Gulen, a prominent Turkish Islamic scholar, said that a woman should counter violence with violence, and could even learn martial arts to defend herself from a violent husband.
"Additionally, women who are beaten by their husbands could attend judo, karate or tae kwon do courses, and if her husband gave her one slap, she could return two," he was quoted as saying by a Turkish news portal, Today's Zaman.
The fatwa, or decree, is not binding in Sunni Islam. It has already raised controversy among conservative Muslims, who say it could spark discord in families.
According to Amnesty International statistics, 30% of all deaths of Egyptian women are a result of domestic violence. Under traditional Islamic laws, domestic violence is not seen as a legitimate reason for divorce.
