Padang – The West Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI) said that the Obedient Wives Club could not be banned in Indonesia because their teachings did not violate the sharia.

The Obedient Wives Club was founded by the conservative Islamic group Global Ikhwan in Malaysia, where hundreds of women are members. Organizers claim they can cure social ills, such as prostitution and divorce, by teaching women to be submissive and to keep their men happy in the bedroom.

"From the Islamic perspective, it is a wife's obligation to obey her husband," the deputy chairman of West Sumatra's MUI, Gusrizal Gazahar said in Padang.

He said there is nothing controversial about the club's teachings, including polygamy. Gusrizal said that Islam approved polygamy as long as it was carried out according to the requirements stated in the Koran.

"We can't blame the club because so far they haven't taught anything which is a violation to Islamic teaching, including polygamy," he said. "Husbands are obligated to consider all aspects before deciding to be a polygamist."

According to him, what the public should focus on is whether or not people are pressured to join the club.

The Indonesian branch of the Obedient Wives Club, launched early this month in Malaysia, claims to have about 300 members in several cities.

Group leader Gina Puspita said that the club would offer its members a package of teachings – including how to treat their husbands in bed. "A wife has to be 100 percent obedient to her husband in all aspects, especially in sexual treatment," she said. (Antara, AP)