The head of Turkey’s Directorate of Religious Affairs said the words Islam and reform do not go together.

Instead, said Ali Erbaş, “fiqh”, or the theory or philosophy of Islamic law, could be updated, He spoke in an interview with CNN Türk television.

“It is not correct to put the words of Islam and reform next to each other in any way,” he said on Monday. “But Fıqh is always subject to update and needs to be updated.”

Erbaş’s comments follow a call by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to adapt religious practices to current social conditions. Erdoğan spoke after some Islamic preachers in Turkey made remarks seen as supporting violence against women.

“We, as the Directorate of Religious Affairs, reject every kind of interpretation and thought that condones violence against women…There is not one single source in either our Prophet’s teachings or in Islam that condones violence against women,” Erbaş said.