Prominent Russian Muslim Cleric Gets Into Hot Water Over Instructing Muslims on the Proper Ways to Beat One’s Wife.

Timur Kamaev, a prominent Imam from Russia’s republic of Tatarstan, found himself at the center of a nationwide scandal this week after releasing a video in which he appears to instruct believers on the proper ways to beat one’s wife.  Released on Monday as a part of the Tea With Hazrat podcast series, the original video has since been removed by its publisher — but this has done little to dispel the heated debate that spilled far beyond Russia’s Muslim community.  The Moscow Times has gathered everything you need to know about the controversy.  Who is Timur Kamaev?  Kamaev, 30, is one of the most high-profile Muslim clerics in Russia and the head of the Irek Mosque located in the heart of Tatarstan’s capital Kazan.  Opened in 2018, the mosque was built in memory of Irek Minnikhanov, the son of Tatarstan’s head Rustam Minnikhanov who was among the 50 passengers killed in the 2013 Tatarstan Airlines flight No. 363 crash.  Tatarstan’s flagship business daily Business Online describes the mosque as “frequently visited by Tatarstan’s VIPs.”