Women
Bashing and Islam
By Dr. Ibrahim B. Syed
President
Islamic Research Foundation International, Inc.
Louisville, KY
In September 2005, an Imam who wrote
a book on how to beat one’s wife without
leaving marks on her body, was ordered by a judge
in Spain to study the country’s constitution.
The judge told Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, an Imam
of a mosque in the southern resort of Fuengirola,
to spend six months studying three articles of
the constitution and the universal declaration
of human rights.
Mr. Mustafa was sentenced to 15 months in jail
and fined about $ 2,600 last year after being
found guilty of inciting violence against women.
A judge released him after 22 days in jail on
the condition that he undertook a re-education
course. The Spanish government has set up a commission
to find ways for the Muslim community to regulate
itself. A central recommendation is that the imams
should speak Spanish and have basic knowledge
of human rights and Spanish law.
In his book “Women in Islam,” published
four years ago, Mr. Mustafa, the Imam wrote that
verbal warnings followed by a period of sexual
inactivity could be used to discipline a disobedient
wife. If that failed, he argued that, according
to Islamic law, beatings could be sensibly administered.
“The blows should be concentrated on the
hands and feet using a rod that is thin and light
so that it does not leave scars or bruises on
the body,” he wrote.
MR. MUSTAFA’S LESSONS, which he must pay
for, will be taught by teachers from Malaga University.
According to La Vanguardia newspaper, he will
have to study articles 10, 14 and 15 of the Spanish
constitution. The first two address “the
dignity of a person and inviolable rights”
and states “all Spaniards are equal before
the law.”
The third one states, “The moral and physical
integrity of a person in no case can be submitted
to torture nor inhuman or degrading punishments
or treatment.”
In the Qur’an, Surah 4: 34 reads:
“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.”
Is the husband superior and the
wife is inferior?
Throughout in the Noble Qur’an, Allah emphasizes
that men and women are equal for Him – Allah
will judge them in exactly the same way. It is
hard to believe 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.
Beating One’s 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 this in view of pursuing 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’.
(DOES THE QUR’AN ALLOW BEATING OF WOMEN?
By: MOHAMMED ABDUL MALEK online at www.irfi.org).
In Surah, Al- Nur, 24:2, 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)
This verse establishes the principle that for
men and women, equal actions lead to equal punishment.
In case of adultery men and women must receive
equal punishment; surely there is no reason why
they should be treated differently for any lesser
marital problem.
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
the 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.
If one follows the principle of ‘equal behaviour
leads to equal punishment’ then 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
suggests: ‘to separate, to part’.
Then 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 (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)
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.
Prophet’s Example
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 and
regret later. When a person is angry while standing,
“sit down”, the Prophet (pbuh) said.
And if one is still angry even in the sitting
position, then one should 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). 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.
Based on the foregoing, interpreting {adriboo}
as ‘to beat’, causes several internal
conflicts with the meaning of other Qur’anic
verses and ahadith, 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.
Return to obedience?
When the problem is solved, and 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. 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)
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