Lawyer and activist Siti Kasim has called on Education Minister Maszlee Malik to explain an Islamic Studies examination question for Form Five students on permissible ways to “hit a disobedient wife.”

“Is this what our Malay children (are) learning in school?? What is this Maszlee? Is this acceptable?

“What kind of trash are we teaching the kids in school?” she asked in a Facebook post alongside an image of the examination question.

The question, which Malaysiakini has sighted, presents a flowchart with the title “Ways to hit a nusyuz (disobedient) wife”.

The chart states two such ways – “Not too overboard that it would cause injury” and “Not on sensitive areas,” and requires students to fill in the third permissible way.

The question originates from a Sept/Oct 2018 model examination paper for the Form Five Islamic Studies subject, issued by the Selangor Education Department.

Contacted later, Siti said students should be taught the Quran from multiple perspectives.

“We should not be teaching our children such rubbish in schools.  

“There are many other opinions on the interpretation of (how to discipline wives). Why do we teach our children only one interpretation?

“If they really want to teach (this), teach all other interpretations too. Let them decide which is best in Islam in accordance to the Quran, which is all about mercy and compassion,” she told Malaysiakini.

A representative of the Education Ministry told Malaysiakini that it will soon release a statement on the matter.