Weird law: Denying your wife food if you don't get sex

In April, there was wide-spread international condemnation when a legislation catering to the Shia sect in Afghanistan was passed. This legislation tilted the gender balance very strongly towards men, something not uncommon in Islamic countries. However, since Afghanistan was a place where troops from many nations were fighting the Taliban, and many of these troops were losing their lives, there was more outrage. How could a country have such a law if the Government of the country was dependent on foreign aid and foreign support. At that time, the President of Afghanistan, Karzai, shook off the criticism by claiming that he had not read the legislation clearly before signing it, and he would take steps to revert. However, seems like nothing really happened after that (link to article):

Afghanistan has enacted a new legislation empowering men of Shia sect of Islam to deny their wives food and sustenance if they refuse to obey their husbands' sexual demands, a media report said on Saturday. The new final draft of the legislation also grants guardianship of children exclusively to their fathers and grandfathers, and requires women to get permission from their husbands to work, The Guardian reported.
According to the report, the new law has been backed by the hardline Shia cleric Ayatollah Mohseni, who is thought to have influence over the voting intentions of some Shias, who make up around 20 per cent of the population. Karzai has assiduously courted such minority leaders in the run up to next Thursday's election, which is likely to be close, a poll indicated.

Given that the President is now contesting for re-election as the President of Afghanistan, and Shia votes will also be important, it is doubtful whether this legislation will be so easily reversed; would be so ironic that a state supported by the West enshrines a massive gender bias.

Malaysia Islamic body bans Yoga for Muslims

Yoga is a form of exercise that has found many fans and devoted practitioners all over the world. It has developed many variants as well, and the number of people practising Yoga all over the world would number in the 10's of millions. However, Yoga has derived from Hindu practices (or more accurately, Yoga developed at the same time as the early Hindu religion, and has been seen as linked together). However, this is not necessarily so, and a number of people have shown how one can enjoy the benefits of Yoga without seeming to undergo the Hindu practices. However, this has not stopped Islamic and Christian denominations from rejecting Yoga, as this Malaysian Islamic body did:

Malaysia's top Islamic body on Saturday ruled against Muslims practicing yoga, saying it had elements of other religions that could corrupt Muslims. The National Fatwa Council's non-binding edict said yoga involves not just physical exercise but also includes Hindu spiritual elements, chanting and worship.
The Malaysia fatwa reflects the growing strain of conservatism in Malaysia, which has always taken pride in its multi-ethnic population. About 25 percent of Malaysians are ethnic Chinese and 8 percent ethnic Indians, mostly Hindus. The Fatwa Council took up the yoga issue after an Islamic scholar last month expressed an opinion at a seminar that it was un-Islamic. But yoga teacher Suleiha Merican, who has been practicing yoga for 40 years, called yoga "a great health science" and said there is no religion involved. "We don't do chanting and meditation. There is no conflict because yoga is not religion based," Merican, 56, told The Associated Press.

This is another example where a religious opinion has prevented something beneficial from happening. There is no logical reason, instead, it is more about some apprehensions.

Preacher with 86 wives

The standard joke among men is that 'Why would somebody want to marry more than 1 wife ? Handling one itself can be a big task.' In earlier times, before laws and morality settled on marriage being between one husband and one wife, both polygamy and polyandry were permissible. In fact, in the United States, Mormons were initially allowed polygamy, and it was only about a century back that the Mormon Church outlawed polygamy. Islamic practices the world over however allow a man 4 wives at a time, with the injunction that he has to treat them equally, and not more than 4. This is allowed for Muslims in a huge number of countries in the world, even though this may be disliked in many of the Western countries. However, a preacher in Nigeria has thrown this limit to the sky, having 86 wives and is opposing local efforts to get this number down to 4:

A Nigerian court has granted temporary reprieve to an 84-year-old Muslim preacher with 86 wives after local leaders threatened to force him to leave the area unless he divorced all but four of them. Mohammed Bello launched a legal challenge after local chiefs and Muslim leaders in Bida, a town in central Niger state where he lives with his wives and some 170 children, gave him until Sept 7 to comply with Islamic sharia law, which allows a man to have no more than four wives at a time.
The ruling gives Bello temporary protection from banishment while the court decides whether his rights have indeed been violated. The judge adjourned the case to September 18.

This is a tricky case. Even though the Sharia allows 4 wives, the word of the Sharia is treated as the word of god by devout Muslims, and having more than 4 wives would be going against the word of God. In addition, 86 wives would mean that neither can be discharge his proper husband duties to them, and may not even remember the names of all of them.