Here's What Shariah Law Apparently Has to Say About Women's Facebook Passwords

An Islamic preacher says that women who keep their social media and cellphone passwords secret from their husbands are violating shariah law, asserting that husbands are entitled to and must demand to know that information.

The Middle East Media Research Institute reported that Palestinian cleric Sheik Khaled Al-Maghrabi gave a lecture at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque earlier this month in which he said women who withhold the passwords to their cellphones, computers or social media accounts, including Facebook, are violating Islamic law.

Sheik Khaled Al-Maghrabi said it’s a husband’s “right” to know his wife’s passwords. (Image source: MEMRI)

“In marital relations, the wife must not keep any secrets from her husband,” Al-Maghrabi said according to MEMRI. “If the wife has a cell phone and she uses a password, but refuses to give her husband the password, this constitutes a violation of Islamic law. This is prohibited. A woman is not allowed to block her cell phone from her husband.”

“If, for example, she has a Facebook account with a password, but her husband does not know the password, this constitutes a violation of Islamic law, because her husband must be able to check her Internet account at any time. That is his right! He is entitled to demand this,” Al-Maghrabi said.

“Under no circumstances whatsoever may a woman have a cell phone, a laptop, or any kind of Internet account, which is locked with a password that is unknown to her husband. This would constitute a violation of Islamic law regarding marital relations,” the preacher added.

Watch an excerpt of the lecture posted and translated by MEMRI: