Saudi cleric tells women they CAN refuse sex with husbands during coronavirus outbreak

A SAUDI cleric has told women it is okay to refuse to have sex with their husbands during the coronavirus outbreak.

Religious scholar Abdullah Muhammad Al-Mutlaq, an adviser at the Saudi royal court, gave the advice while appearing on a live state TV call-in show.

Al-Mutlaq received a call from a viewer asking if it was a “sin” for her to refuse her husband sex during the pandemic lockdown.

The viewer appeared to be fearful of a twisted interpretation of Islamic law peddled by some ultraconservative scholars that wives have to submit to their husbands.

Al-Mutlaq, a member of the kingdom’s Council of Senior Scholars, gave a forward-thinking response as he said she was well within her rights to kick him out of bed.

The cleric has previously intervened to go against extreme traditionalist teachings as Saudi Arabia continues to make efforts to modernise and reform.

Saudi Arabia however is hit by coronavirus – like the rest of the world – with more than 2,000 confirmed cases and 24 deaths.

Authorities have a lockdown in place, and the Saudi government have deployed religious clerics in an attempt to urge people to take precautions to beat coronavirus.