Qur'an, Hadith and Scholars:Wife Beating: Difference between revisions

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"The Prophet said: 'Do not beat the female slaves of Allah.' Then 'Umar came to the Prophet and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, the woman have become bold towards their husbands? So order the beatin g of them,' and they were beaten. Then many women went around to the family of Muhammad,. The next day he said: ''''Last night seventy women came to the family of Muhammad, each woman complaining about her husband. You will not find that those are the best of you'''.' " (Sahih)}}
"The Prophet said: 'Do not beat the female slaves of Allah.' Then 'Umar came to the Prophet and said: 'O Messenger of Allah, the woman have become bold towards their husbands? So order the beatin g of them,' and they were beaten. Then many women went around to the family of Muhammad,. The next day he said: ''''Last night seventy women came to the family of Muhammad, each woman complaining about her husband. You will not find that those are the best of you'''.' " (Sahih)}}


====Scholars Agree with Wife Beating====
==Scholars==


{{Quote|1=[http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=38&tid=44753 How Allah tested Sulayman then made Things easy for Him (Qur'an 38:41-44)]<BR>Tafsir Ibn Kathir| 2=And remember Our servant Ayyub, when he invoked his Lord (saying): "Verily, Shaytan has afflicted me with distress and torment!" (Allah said to him): "Strike the ground with your foot. This is (a spring of) water to wash in, cool and a drink." And We gave him (back) his family, and along with them the like thereof, as a mercy from Us, and a reminder for those who understand. "And take in your hand a bundle of thin grass and strike therewith (your wife), and break not your oath." Truly, We found him patient. How excellent a servant! Verily, he was ever oft-returning in repentance (to Us)!}}
===Classical Views===
 
{{Quote|[http://www.shafiifiqh.com/maktabah/relianceoftraveller.pdf Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law (p. 540)]<BR>Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri, Edited and Translated by Nuh Ha Mim Keller|'''m10.12''' When a husband notices signs of rebelliousness in his wife (nushuz), whether in words, as when she answers him coldly when she used to do so politely, or he asks her to come to bed and she refuses, contrary to her usual habit; or whether in acts, as when he finds her averse to him when she was previously kind and cheerful), he warns her in words (without keeping from her or hitting her, for it may be that she has an excuse. The warning could be to tell her, "fear Allah concerning the rights you owe to me," or it could be to explain that rebelliousness nullifies his obligation to support her and give her a turn amongst other wives, or it could be to inform her, "Your obeying me is religiously obligatory"). If she commits rebelliousness, he keeps from sleeping (and having sex) with her without words, and '''may hit her''', but not in a way that injures her, meaning he may not (bruise her), break bones, wound her, or cause blood to flow. (It is unlawful to strike another’s face.) He may hit her whether she is rebellious only once or whether more than once, though a weaker opinion holds that he may hot hit her unless there is repeated rebelliousness."
 
If the wife does not fulfill one of the above-mentioned obligations, she is termed "rebellious" (nashiz), and the husband takes the following steps to correct matters:
 
(a) admonition and advice, by explaining the unlawfulness of rebellion, its harmful effect on married life, and by listening to her viewpoint on the matter;


{{Quote|1=[http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=38&tid=44786 Ayyub]<BR>Tafsir Ibn Kathir|2=Ayyub, peace be upon him, got angry with his wife and was upset about something she had done, so he swore an oath that if Allah healed him, he would strike her with one hundred blows. When Allah healed him, how could her service, mercy, compassion and kindness be repaid with a beating So Allah showed him a way out, which was to take a bundle of thin grass, with one hundred stems, and hit her with it once. Thus he fulfilled his oath and avoided breaking his vow.}}
(b) if admonition is ineffectual, he keeps from her by not sleeping in bed with her, by which both learn the degree to which they need each other;


{{Quote|1=Galal Al-Khatib, Egyptian cleric|2=One of the husband's rights is to discipline his wife if she is disobedient. What does the word 'disobedience' mean? Disobedience is to leave the house without the husband's permission, to refuse to obey the husband in bed, to speak to the husband impolitely, or to do the opposite of what he likes. All these are forms of disobedience...<br>
(c) if keeping from her is ineffectual, '''it is permissible for him to hit her''' if he believes that hitting her will bring her back to the right path, though if he does not think so, it is not permissible. His hitting her may not be in a way that injures her, and is his last recourse to save the family.


Okay, he's tried admonishing, he's tried banishment - but nothing. Her emotions are numb, and she says: Good riddance. So what is the next measure? "...and beat them." Beating. The Prophet Muhammad said that the beatings should be light, and that one should avoid the face, or the sensitive areas, which might lead to broken bones, or might leave a mark that would spoil her beauty, whether on her face or anywhere on her body. Beatings that draw blood, or break bones, or leave a scar, a black mark on the skin, or any obvious mark, which would make people know that she was harshly beaten - this is forbidden.<br>
(d) if the disagreement does not end after all this, each partner chooses an arbitrator to solve the dispute by settlement, or divorce.}}


How should the beatings go? Maybe a light slap on her shoulder, or maybe a not-so-light pinch, or a kind of gentle shove. He should make her feel that he wants to reform her, and let her know that he is displeased with her. It is like saying: None of the measures that work with sensitive people work with you. A word would be enough for any wife with lofty morals, but with you, words do not help.<br>
{{Quote|1=[http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=38&tid=44753 How Allah tested Sulayman then made Things easy for Him (Qur'an 38:41-44)]<BR>Tafsir Ibn Kathir| 2=And remember Our servant Ayyub, when he invoked his Lord (saying): "Verily, Shaytan has afflicted me with distress and torment!" (Allah said to him): "Strike the ground with your foot. This is (a spring of) water to wash in, cool and a drink." And We gave him (back) his family, and along with them the like thereof, as a mercy from Us, and a reminder for those who understand. "And take in your hand a bundle of thin grass and strike therewith (your wife), and break not your oath." Truly, We found him patient. How excellent a servant! Verily, he was ever oft-returning in repentance (to Us)!}}


Then he attempts a new direction, appealing to her femininity and emotions, by making her feel that he doesn't want her or love her. When this doesn't work, he says to her: With you, I have reached a stage which is only appropriate for inhumane people - the stage of beating.<br>
{{Quote|1=[http://www.tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=38&tid=44786 Ayyub]<BR>Tafsir Ibn Kathir|2=Ayyub, peace be upon him, got angry with his wife and was upset about something she had done, so he swore an oath that if Allah healed him, he would strike her with one hundred blows. When Allah healed him, how could her service, mercy, compassion and kindness be repaid with a beating So Allah showed him a way out, which was to take a bundle of thin grass, with one hundred stems, and hit her with it once. Thus he fulfilled his oath and avoided breaking his vow.}}


Beating is one of the punishments of religious law. What kind of people are beaten? Virgin adulterers, both men and women, are beaten as a means of discipline. Who else is beaten? A person who committed an offense and was sentenced by the judge to beatings. Who else is beaten? Someone who committed a crime. By beating his wife, the husband is saying: You've committed a grave sin that merits beatings."<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP222909 Egyptian Cleric Galal Al-Khatib Explains Wife-Beating in Islam] - MEMRI: Special Dispatch, No. 2229, February 5, 2009</ref>}}
===Modern Views===


{{Quote|1=[http://islam-qa.com/en/ref/49945 His wife does not cover her hands – should he threaten to divorce her?]<BR>Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 49945|2=Allaah has enjoined woman to be obedient to her husband, and has made men qawwaamoon (protectors and maintainers) of women. They are supposed to direct and look after women as a leader directs and looks after his people, because of the physical and mental characteristics with which Allaah has distinguished them, as well as the financial duties that He has enjoined upon them...<br><br>
{{Quote|1=[http://islam-qa.com/en/ref/49945 His wife does not cover her hands – should he threaten to divorce her?]<BR>Islam Q&A, Fatwa No. 49945|2=Allaah has enjoined woman to be obedient to her husband, and has made men qawwaamoon (protectors and maintainers) of women. They are supposed to direct and look after women as a leader directs and looks after his people, because of the physical and mental characteristics with which Allaah has distinguished them, as well as the financial duties that He has enjoined upon them...<br><br>
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The Hanafis mentioned four situations in which a husband is permitted to discipline his wife by hitting her. These are: not adorning herself when he wants her to; not responding when he calls her to bed and she is taahirah (pure, i.e., not menstruating); not praying; and going out of the house without his permission. }}
The Hanafis mentioned four situations in which a husband is permitted to discipline his wife by hitting her. These are: not adorning herself when he wants her to; not responding when he calls her to bed and she is taahirah (pure, i.e., not menstruating); not praying; and going out of the house without his permission. }}


{{Quote|1=Saudi Judge Hamad Al-Razine|2=If a person gives SR 1,200 [$320] to his wife and she spends 900 riyals [$240] to purchase an abaya [the black cover that women in Saudi Arabia must wear] from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment.<ref> Mohammed Jamjoom - [http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/05/10/saudi.court.wife.slapping/index.html?eref=rss_topstories Saudi judge: It's OK to slap spendthrift wives] – CNN, May 10, 2009</ref>}}
{{Quote|1=Galal Al-Khatib, Egyptian cleric|2=One of the husband's rights is to discipline his wife if she is disobedient. What does the word 'disobedience' mean? Disobedience is to leave the house without the husband's permission, to refuse to obey the husband in bed, to speak to the husband impolitely, or to do the opposite of what he likes. All these are forms of disobedience...<br>


{{Quote|[http://answering-islam.org/Silas/wife-beating.htm Reliance of the Traveller: A Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law (p. 540)]<BR>Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri|'''m10.12''' When a husband notices signs of rebelliousness in his wife (nushuz), whether in words, as when she answers him coldly when she used to do so politely, or he asks her to come to bed and she refuses, contrary to her usual habit; or whether in acts, as when he finds her averse to him when she was previously kind and cheerful), he warns her in words (without keeping from her or hitting her, for it may be that she has an excuse. The warning could be to tell her, "fear Allah concerning the rights you owe to me," or it could be to explain that rebelliousness nullifies his obligation to support her and give her a turn amongst other wives, or it could be to inform her, "Your obeying me is religiously obligatory"). If she commits rebelliousness, he keeps from sleeping (and having sex) with her without words, and '''may hit her''', but not in a way that injures her, meaning he may not (bruise her), break bones, wound her, or cause blood to flow. (It is unlawful to strike another’s face.) He may hit her whether she is rebellious only once or whether more than once, though a weaker opinion holds that he may hot hit her unless there is repeated rebelliousness."
Okay, he's tried admonishing, he's tried banishment - but nothing. Her emotions are numb, and she says: Good riddance. So what is the next measure? "...and beat them." Beating. The Prophet Muhammad said that the beatings should be light, and that one should avoid the face, or the sensitive areas, which might lead to broken bones, or might leave a mark that would spoil her beauty, whether on her face or anywhere on her body. Beatings that draw blood, or break bones, or leave a scar, a black mark on the skin, or any obvious mark, which would make people know that she was harshly beaten - this is forbidden.<br>


If the wife does not fulfill one of the above-mentioned obligations, she is termed "rebellious" (nashiz), and the husband takes the following steps to correct matters:
How should the beatings go? Maybe a light slap on her shoulder, or maybe a not-so-light pinch, or a kind of gentle shove. He should make her feel that he wants to reform her, and let her know that he is displeased with her. It is like saying: None of the measures that work with sensitive people work with you. A word would be enough for any wife with lofty morals, but with you, words do not help.<br>


(a) admonition and advice, by explaining the unlawfulness of rebellion, its harmful effect on married life, and by listening to her viewpoint on the matter;
Then he attempts a new direction, appealing to her femininity and emotions, by making her feel that he doesn't want her or love her. When this doesn't work, he says to her: With you, I have reached a stage which is only appropriate for inhumane people - the stage of beating.<br>


(b) if admonition is ineffectual, he keeps from her by not sleeping in bed with her, by which both learn the degree to which they need each other;
Beating is one of the punishments of religious law. What kind of people are beaten? Virgin adulterers, both men and women, are beaten as a means of discipline. Who else is beaten? A person who committed an offense and was sentenced by the judge to beatings. Who else is beaten? Someone who committed a crime. By beating his wife, the husband is saying: You've committed a grave sin that merits beatings."<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP222909 Egyptian Cleric Galal Al-Khatib Explains Wife-Beating in Islam] - MEMRI: Special Dispatch, No. 2229, February 5, 2009</ref>}}


(c) if keeping from her is ineffectual, '''it is permissible for him to hit her''' if he believes that hitting her will bring her back to the right path, though if he does not think so, it is not permissible. His hitting her may not be in a way that injures her, and is his last recourse to save the family.
{{Quote|1=Saudi Judge Hamad Al-Razine|2=If a person gives SR 1,200 [$320] to his wife and she spends 900 riyals [$240] to purchase an abaya [the black cover that women in Saudi Arabia must wear] from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment.<ref> Mohammed Jamjoom - [http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/05/10/saudi.court.wife.slapping/index.html?eref=rss_topstories Saudi judge: It's OK to slap spendthrift wives] – CNN, May 10, 2009</ref>}}
 
(d) if the disagreement does not end after all this, each partner chooses an arbitrator to solve the dispute by settlement, or divorce.}}


{{Quote|Sermon by Muslim cleric on Qatar TV, August 27, 2004|We must know that [wife] beating is a punishment in Islamic religious law,....No one should deny this because this was permitted by the Creator of Man, and because when you purchase an electric appliance or a car you get instructions – a catalogue, explaining how to use it. The Creator of Man has sent down this book [the Quran] in order to show man which ways he must choose...We shouldn't be ashamed before the nations of the world who are still in their days of ignorance, to admit that these [beatings] are part of our religious law,....We must remind the ignorant from among the Islamic Nation who followed the [West] that those [Westerners] acknowledge the wondrous nature of this verse...Allah has created woman, whether Muslim or infidel, so she is happy under a strong man who will protect her and lives with her...[The Koran says:] 'and beat them.' This verse is of a wondrous nature. There are three types of women with whom a man cannot live unless he carries a rod on his shoulder. The first type is a girl who was brought up this way. Her parents ask her to go to school and she doesn't – they beat her. 'Eat' – 'I don't want to' – they beat her. So she became accustomed to beatings; she was brought up that way. We pray Allah will help her husband later. He will only get along with her if he practices wife beating. The second type is a woman who is condescending toward her husband and ignores him. With her, too, only a rod will help. The third type is a twisted woman who will not obey her husband unless he oppresses her, beats her, uses force against her, and overpowers her with his voice.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40276 Muslim cleric: Some wives need to be beaten] - WorldNetDaily, September 03, 2004</ref>}}
{{Quote|Sermon by Muslim cleric on Qatar TV, August 27, 2004|We must know that [wife] beating is a punishment in Islamic religious law,....No one should deny this because this was permitted by the Creator of Man, and because when you purchase an electric appliance or a car you get instructions – a catalogue, explaining how to use it. The Creator of Man has sent down this book [the Quran] in order to show man which ways he must choose...We shouldn't be ashamed before the nations of the world who are still in their days of ignorance, to admit that these [beatings] are part of our religious law,....We must remind the ignorant from among the Islamic Nation who followed the [West] that those [Westerners] acknowledge the wondrous nature of this verse...Allah has created woman, whether Muslim or infidel, so she is happy under a strong man who will protect her and lives with her...[The Koran says:] 'and beat them.' This verse is of a wondrous nature. There are three types of women with whom a man cannot live unless he carries a rod on his shoulder. The first type is a girl who was brought up this way. Her parents ask her to go to school and she doesn't – they beat her. 'Eat' – 'I don't want to' – they beat her. So she became accustomed to beatings; she was brought up that way. We pray Allah will help her husband later. He will only get along with her if he practices wife beating. The second type is a woman who is condescending toward her husband and ignores him. With her, too, only a rod will help. The third type is a twisted woman who will not obey her husband unless he oppresses her, beats her, uses force against her, and overpowers her with his voice.<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=40276 Muslim cleric: Some wives need to be beaten] - WorldNetDaily, September 03, 2004</ref>}}
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