Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz has denied issuing a fatwa allowing a man to ‘eat his wife’s body parts’ in the case of famine or if eating his wife would result in saving his own life.

“The fatwa attributed to us is wrong. This is an attempt to distort the image of Islam which has which elevated and granted a dignified status of men and women without exceptions,” said the Grand Mufti in a statement issued to Saudi Arabian Press.

He said these are “attempts by enemies to distract society from their main cause at the moment, which is standing together behind our wise leadership against attempts to distort the Muslim world.”

The Grand Mufti dismissed the reports by quoting a verse form the Quran, “if an evildoer comes to you with some news, verify it (investigate to ascertain the truth), lest you should harm others unwittingly and then regret what you have done.”

Earlier, Several media reports have stated that the top cleric has issued a fatwa legalising cannibalism, claiming it would allow the couple to “become one as their bodies will fuse together after the husband eats his wife”. However none of them carried any evidence or specified where or when such a fatwa had been issued.