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Wife Beating in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions
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===Wife-Beating in the Qur'an=== | ===Wife-Beating in the Qur'an=== | ||
==== | ====(4:34) 'Beat them'==== | ||
{{Quran|4|34}} Instructs men to beat their wives if they fear disobedience. The word 'beat' in the Arabic is ''daraba.''<ref>daraba - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000062.pdf Lane's lexicon] Book I page 1777</ref> Although a small number of modern Islamic scholars, apologists, and activists have argued that the word ''daraba'' in the verse does not mean 'beat', the overwhelming majority stand with the Islamic tradition and the unimpeachable linguistic case that is made in agreeing that 'beating' is what the verse instructs. No Arabic dictionary or serious scholar has dissented from this consensus. | {{Quran|4|34}} Instructs men to beat their wives if they fear disobedience. The word 'beat' in the Arabic is ''daraba.''<ref>daraba - [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000062.pdf Lane's lexicon] Book I page 1777</ref> Although a small number of modern Islamic scholars, apologists, and activists have argued that the word ''daraba'' in the verse does not mean 'beat', the overwhelming majority stand with the Islamic tradition and the unimpeachable linguistic case that is made in agreeing that 'beating' is what the verse instructs. No Arabic dictionary or serious scholar has dissented from this consensus. | ||
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The root of the word وَٱضْرِبُوهُنَّ (''wa-driboo-hunna'') is ضرب (''d-r-b''). The letter ٱ (''alif waslah'') [[Arabic_letters_and_diacritics#Special_alif_diacritics|is not pronounced]] here, but if the word lacked the و (''-wa'', meaning 'and') prefix and was at the beginning of a passage, it would be read as ''i'', making the word ''idriboohunna'' (ٱضْرِبُوهُنَّ). Many other verses in the Quran employ verbiage derived from the same root, such as {{Quran|2|60}}, which reads '...strike (ٱضْرِب, ''drib'') the rock with your staff...', {{Quran|2|73}}, which reads '"...strike it (ٱضْرِبُوهُ, ''driboo-hu'') with a part of the cow...", and {{Quran|8|12}}, which reads '...so strike (فَٱضْرِبُوا۟, ''fa-driboo'') on their necks...'. Other examples are also present. | The root of the word وَٱضْرِبُوهُنَّ (''wa-driboo-hunna'') is ضرب (''d-r-b''). The letter ٱ (''alif waslah'') [[Arabic_letters_and_diacritics#Special_alif_diacritics|is not pronounced]] here, but if the word lacked the و (''-wa'', meaning 'and') prefix and was at the beginning of a passage, it would be read as ''i'', making the word ''idriboohunna'' (ٱضْرِبُوهُنَّ). Many other verses in the Quran employ verbiage derived from the same root, such as {{Quran|2|60}}, which reads '...strike (ٱضْرِب, ''drib'') the rock with your staff...', {{Quran|2|73}}, which reads '"...strike it (ٱضْرِبُوهُ, ''driboo-hu'') with a part of the cow...", and {{Quran|8|12}}, which reads '...so strike (فَٱضْرِبُوا۟, ''fa-driboo'') on their necks...'. Other examples are also present. | ||
The word "lightly" does not appear in the original Arabic version | The word "lightly" does not appear in the original Arabic version, but is added in some translations. | ||
==== | ====(38:44) Job beats his wife==== | ||
{{Quran|38|44}} states that the prophet Job (''Ayyub'') was commanded by Allah to beat his wife using a bundle of grass, twigs, or rushes (''dighthan''<ref>dad-ghayn-tha [http://www.studyquran.org/LaneLexicon/Volume5/00000078.pdf Lane's Lexicon] Book I page 1793</ref>). | |||
{{Quote|{{Quran|38|44}}|[We said], "And take in your hand a bunch [of grass] '''and strike with it''' and do not break your oath." Indeed, We found him patient, an excellent servant. Indeed, he was one repeatedly turning back [to Allah].}} | {{Quote|{{Quran|38|44}}|[We said], "And take in your hand a bunch [of grass] '''and strike with it''' and do not break your oath." Indeed, We found him patient, an excellent servant. Indeed, he was one repeatedly turning back [to Allah].}} | ||
Classical tafsirs such as Ibn Kathir's give the story behind the verse. The lesson to be learned is that it is better to beat your wife in a relatively unpainful, albeit humiliating way than to break an earlier oath where one promised to beat their wife (as had the prophet Job in this story). | |||
{{Quote|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1952&Itemid=94 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.}} | {{Quote|1=[http://www.qtafsir.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1952&Itemid=94 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.}} | ||
===Wife-Beating in the | ===Wife-Beating in the hadiths=== | ||
Some Muslims deny the Qur'an permits wife-beating and claim verse 4:34 has been misinterpreted, but in the hadiths there are several examples, from various hadith narrators and collectors, of Muhammad ordaining wife-beating, thus confirming the correct understanding of surah 4:34. There are multiple hadiths in which Muhammad's companions beat or struck women (sometimes in his presence), and somewhat conflicting evidence narrated from his wife, 'A'isha, on whether Muhammad himself used physical force against women. In the section following this one, we identify hadiths in which Muhammad attempted to moderate the level of violence. | Some Muslims deny the Qur'an permits wife-beating and claim verse 4:34 has been misinterpreted, but in the hadiths there are several examples, from various hadith narrators and collectors, of Muhammad ordaining wife-beating, thus confirming the correct understanding of surah 4:34. There are multiple hadiths in which Muhammad's companions beat or struck women (sometimes in his presence), and somewhat conflicting evidence narrated from his wife, 'A'isha, on whether Muhammad himself used physical force against women. In the section following this one, we identify hadiths in which Muhammad attempted to moderate the level of violence. | ||