Cairo – Egyptian preacher and Vice President of the Salafist Call party Yasser Burhami has stirred controversy with a new religious edict, or fatwa, allowing men to let their wives be raped if they fear for their lives, Al-Arabia news reported.

Burhami published his fatwas on the website Anasalafy.com, which is associated with his Salafist Call party. He added that allowing one’s wife to be raped is like getting mugged for money.

“In this case he is forced [to surrender her] and not obliged [to defend her],” he said.

The fatwas were met with condemnation within Egypt and prompted an outcry on social media.

Burhami’s controversial fatwa also sparked criticism by scholars of al-Azhar University, considered to be the highest seat of Sunni learning.

Sheikh Ali Abu al-Hasan, the previous head of al-Azhar’s fatwa committee, was quoted by the daily Elaph website as saying that Burhami’s edict was “baseless in the Islamic Sharia” and that protecting a woman’s honor is an obligation for her husbands and relatives.