|
|
DOES THE QUR'AN ALLOW BEATING OF WOMEN?
By: MOHAMMED ABDUL MALEK
(Mohammed Abdul Malek is a Qur'anic Scholar and a
prolific writer on Islam, based in SURREY, England)
If ever there has
been a controversial verse in the Holy Qur'an, it certainly is verse
4:34. Used by opponents of Islam to label this religion
woman-unfriendly (to put it mildly), Muslims themselves are struggling
with interpreting it. For yes, let us agree about this: there is no such
thing as “the” one and only correct interpretation of the Word of Allah
– only Allah knows what He meant. We can only try to understand. And in
this particular case, an alternative for the troublesome interpretations
of this verse may bring us a bit closer to that objective.
Let us have a look at a (partial) translation of this verse
1:
"Men are the {qawwam}
of women, because Allah has given the one more than the other, and
because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous
women are {qanitat}, and guard in the husband's absence what
Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear
{nushooz}, admonish them first, then refuse to share their beds, and
finally {adriboo} them; but when they {ataa:} to you, then
seek not against them means of annoyance: For Allah is Most High, great
above you all. "
Disobedient women?
The key word to answer this question is {qanitat}, which is a feminine
plural of {qanit}, based on the root {q-n-t}. This word appears on many
other occasions in the NobleA Qur'an
2, where it is
used exclusively in the sense of 'submissive, obedient to
Allah'. Verse 4:34 contains no reason at all to depart from
this meaning and to change it into 'obedience to a husband'.
This verse is about pious women who, just like pious men, are obedient
to Allah. And a wife (husband) who is obedient to God, must live up to
her (his) marital duties.
Superior husband and inferior wife?
Throughout the Noble Qur'an, Allah emphasizes that men and women are
equal for Him – Allah will judge them in exactly the same way
3. So it would
be strange indeed if a verse would contradict this equality. But is that
really the case here? The Arabic word used is {qawwam}, an intensive
form of {qaim}, meaning: 'to take care of, to stand up for, to look
after'. Therefore, does this verse say that men are superior to
women? Not at all. It says: men must look after women. In Islam, men are
obliged to financially provide for their wife and children. They have to
pay for their housing, clothing, food, medicines, etc. That is what {qawwamoona}
means: men must take care of women.
Misbehavior?
Is this verse about what a man should do when his wife 'misbehaves'?
The exact word used here, {nushooz}, means 'discord, hostility,
dissonance'. In this context it could be interpreted as
'marital problems'.
Beating his wife?
The verse instructs a husband whose wife causes problems in their
marriage to first talk to her about it, then leave the marital bed, then
{adriboo} his wife, and all of this in view of pursuing a reconciliation
as is evident from the subsequent verse 4:35.
ADRIBOO
The Arabic word used here, {adriboo},
from the root {d-r-b}, has several dozens of meanings, such as: 'to
beat', but also: 'to forsake, to avoid, to separate, to
leave, to part'.
How do we know which interpretation to choose? One way to find out is to
relate this verse to other verses in the Glorious Qur'an and to check if
the meanings make sense. In this case, let us look at verse 24:2,
which describes what should be done in case of adultery:
"The woman and
the man guilty of adultery or fornication, - flog each of them with a
hundred stripes..." (Noble Qur'an 24:2)
4
This verse establishes the principle that
for men and women, equal actions lead to equal punishment. When for
adultery men and women must receive equal punishment, surely
there is no reason why they should be treated differently for any
lesser marital problem.
Now let us take a look at the consequences of interpreting {adriboo}
one way or another.
Suppose {adriboo} means: 'to beat'.
In this case, verse 4:34 says that when a wife causes a problem
in the marriage, her husband should first talk to her about it, then
leave their bed, then beat her and all of this in view of increasing his
chances of a reconciliation. On the emotional level, this certainly does
not sound like a very promising course of action. So let us check this
meaning against the bigger framework and in particular against the
principle of 'equal behaviour leads to equal punishment'.
This would imply that when a husband causes a
problem in the marriage, his wife can beat him. At which he could
invoke verse 4:34 to beat her again, so that the result would be
a perpetual physical fight between spouses! Surely, this makes no sense
at all. And indeed, it is not what Allah prescribes for the situation
where a husband causes a rift, as will be explained in a moment.
Suppose {adriboo} means: 'to forsake, to avoid',
possibly, as Mohammed Abdul Malek
5 suggests:
'to separate, to part'.
Now what do we get? Verse 4:34 now says that when a wife causes a
problem in the marriage, her husband should first talk to her about it,
then leave their bed (forsaking his sexual satisfaction), then avoid her
even more (not talking to her anymore, leaving the room when she enters
it, and possibly even leaving the house for a while), in order to
prevent things from getting worse, and on the contrary to let things
cool down and create enough space in view of increasing chances of a
reconciliation.
This sounds like a very logical chain of events.
Also, application of the general rule of verse 24:2 ('equal
actions, equal punishment') now means that when a husband causes a
marital problem, his wife should forsake a few of her rights, avoid her
husband in increasing ways, and try to work towards a reconciliation.
And yes, that is precisely what verse 4:128 says:
"If a wife fears
cruelty or desertion on her husband's part, there is no blame on them if
they arrange an amicable settlement between themselves" (Glorious
Qur'an 4:128)
4
Understanding {adriboo} as 'to
forsake, to (gradually) avoid (more and more), possibly eventually leave
altogether', clearly makes sense when relating several verses to
one another.
And there is more. Beating a wife, would
contradict hadiths of the Noble Prophet who repeatedly said: “do not
beat believing women!”. It would also contradict the Noble
Prophet's instructions about anger – which he explained to originate
from Satan and which he described as "a living coal on one's heart".
One should not act upon ones anger, lest one would do things one would
regret later. When you are angry when you are standing, sit down, the
Prophet (pbuh) said. And when you are still angry when you are sitting,
then lie down. Interpreting this verse as
allowing a husband to beat his wife, surely contradicts these rulings on
anger.
Furthermore, Allah says in the Noble Qur'an that one must meet bad
behaviour with something that is better, not with something that is
worse, in order to turn a hostile situation into a friendly one:
"Nor can
goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (Evil) with what is better: Then will
he between whom and thee was hatred become as it were thy friend and
intimate!" (Noble Qur'an 41:13)
4
Therefore the word {adriboo}
cannot really have meant “to beat”, can it?. It must mean
something that is better than causing problems, and avoiding the problem
certainly is exactly that.
Based on the evidence presented here, it would seem that interpreting {adriboo}
as 'to beat', causes several internal conflicts with the
meaning of other Qur'anic verses and hadiths, while interpreting it as
'gradually forsaking, more and more and possibly leaving altogether',
is a much more logical interpretation that is entirely consistent with
the interpretation of other rules in the Glorious Qur'an and the Sunnah
of the Noble Prophet Muhammad.
What makes much more sense, is that this verse does not allow a
'superior' husband to 'beat' his 'inferior, disobedient' wife. On the
contrary, this verse appears to tell us that a husband must look after
his wife (an equal partner who, like he, is obedient to God), and that
when his wife is causing problems in their marriage, he should first
talk to her about it, if that doesn't help, he should begin avoiding her
by leaving the marital bed. If that still doesn't resolve the situation,
he should forsake her presence even more, avoid conversations, leave a
room when she enters it, avoid her company altogether, and possibly
leave the house for a while, so that no problems are added to the
conflict, and so that things can cool down a bit to maximize chances for
a later reconciliation.
Return to obedience?
When the problem is solved, when the wife
is committed to the marriage again, then the husband is advised not to
keep using the incident against her and to consider the incident closed.
The exact Arabic wording is: "when
then they (fem.pl.) {aTa:} (with) you (masc.pl.), then seek not against
them (fem.pl) means of annoyance". The verb {aTa:} (alif taa alif
ayn) has several meanings, such as: 'obey', but also: 'comply,
comply with, accommodate, give in to', or in French 'filer doux'.
Consequently, the verse can be understood to mean: "when then they
are committed to the marriage again", or: "when then they give in
to/comply with the efforts of the husband to save the marriage", or
"when they no longer cause marriage problems", ... Linguistically
there is no compelling necessity to translate {aTa:} as "obedient to
the husband" . Other interpretations are possible and indeed
preferable. Earlier in the verse, there was no reason at all to
translate {qanitat} as women who are "obedient to their husband"
so that here there isn't any reason to imply that this verse is about a
temporary disobedience and a subsequent return to obedience to their
husbands. It is not a matter of obedience to him, it is a matter of {nushooz}
(marriage problems). And the Noble Qur'an advises that when one of the
partners causes a marriage problem, the other should gradually avoid the
person who causes the problem, in order to save the marriage -
irrespective of who started the strife (4:34, 4:128)
Yet of course, this is only an interpretation.
Allah knows best.
Notes
1. Derived from Yusuf
Ali, Pickthall and Irving; King Fahd (Saudi-Arabia), Sheikh Ahmad
Kuftaroo (Grand Mufti of Syria) and original Arabic meaning.
1.
See Qur'anic verses 2:116,238; 3:17, 43; 30:26;
33:31, 35 en 39:9.
2.
See Qur'anic verses 3:195, 4:124, and 33:35.
3.
"The Meanings of The Holy Qur'an", Abdullah Yusuf Ali.
Provided by Islamicity -
http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/SURAI.HTM
"Does The Quran Sanction The Beating of Women?",
Mohammed Abdul Malek, -
http://www.crescentlife.com/thisthat/does_the_quran_sanction_the_beating_of_women.htm
|
