4,640
edits
The Meaning of Daraba: Difference between revisions
→Traditional Tafsirs
| [checked revision] | [checked revision] |
No edit summary |
|||
| (3 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 10: | Line 10: | ||
==Agreed-Upon Translations== | ==Agreed-Upon Translations== | ||
Almost all Qur'anic professional translators in English have translated the term as "beat them". | Almost all Qur'anic professional translators in English have translated the term as "beat them". The only alternative translations which do not translate "daraba" as "to beat/hit/strike" are those that have caused controversies such as that of Leila Bekhtiar. | ||
'''Yusuf Ali:''' | '''Yusuf Ali:''' | ||
| Line 40: | Line 40: | ||
'''Muhammad Asad:''' | '''Muhammad Asad:''' | ||
{{quote ||"...And as for those woolen whose ill-will" you have reason to fear, admonish them [first]; then leave them alone in bed; then '''beat them''' and if thereupon..." <ref name="ia4-34"/> }}'''Sahih International:'''{{quote ||"...but those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them...." }} | {{quote ||"...And as for those woolen whose ill-will" you have reason to fear, admonish them [first]; then leave them alone in bed; then '''beat them''' and if thereupon..." <ref name="ia4-34"/> }}'''Sahih International:'''{{quote ||"...but those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them...." }} | ||
==Traditional Tafsirs== | |||
The [[tafsir]]s are the classical commentaries on the Qur'an. These represent educated, learned Muslim opinion on this verse of the course of many centures. All of the classical tafsirs read the verse as instructing men to beat their wives, and concern themselves with the circumstances under which this action is to be taken and also attempt to place limits of the severity of the beating. None of the question that the verse is fundamentally speaking about wife beating: | |||
{{Quote|[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Kathir/4.34 Tafsir of ibn Kathir on Qur'an 4:34]| | |||
وَاهْجُرُوهُنَّ فِى الْمَضَاجِعِ | |||
(abandon them in their beds,) `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said "The abandonment refers to not having intercourse with her, to lie on her bed with his back to her.'' Several others said similarly. As-Suddi, Ad-Dahhak, `Ikrimah, and Ibn `Abbas, in another narration, added, "Not to speak with her or talk to her.'' The Sunan and Musnad compilers recorded that Mu`awiyah bin Haydah Al-Qushayri said, "O Allah's Messenger! What is the right that the wife of one of us has on him'' The Prophet said, | |||
«أَنْ تُطْعِمَهَا إِذَا طَعِمْتَ، وَتَكْسُوَهَا إِذَا اكْتَسَيْتَ، وَلَا تَضْرِبِ الْوَجْهَ، وَلَا تُقَبِّحْ، وَلَا تَهْجُرْ إِلَّا فِي الْبَيْت» | |||
(To feed her when you eat, cloth her when you buy clothes for yourself, refrain from striking her face or cursing her, and to not abandon her, except in the house.) Allah's statement, | |||
وَاضْرِبُوهُنَّ | |||
(beat them) means, if advice and ignoring her in the bed do not produce the desired results, you are allowed to discipline the wife, without severe beating. Muslim recorded that Jabir said that during the Farewell Hajj, the Prophet said; | |||
«وَاتَّقُوا اللهَ فِي النِّسَاءِ، فَإِنَّهُنَّ عِنْدَكُمْ عَوَانٍ، وَلَكُمْ عَلَيْهِنَّ أَنْ لَا يُوطِئْنَ فُرُشَكُمْ أَحَدًا تَكْرَهُونَهُ،فَإِنْ فَعَلْنَ ذَلِكَ فَاضْرِبُوهُنَّ ضَرْبًا غَيْرَ مُبَرِحٍ، وَلَهُنَّ عَلَيْكُمْ رِزْقُهُنَّ وَكِسْوَتُهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوف» | |||
(Fear Allah regarding women, for they are your assistants. You have the right on them that they do not allow any person whom you dislike to step on your mat. However, if they do that, you are allowed to discipline them lightly. They have a right on you that you provide them with their provision and clothes, in a reasonable manner.) Ibn `Abbas and several others said that the Ayah refers to a beating that is not violent. Al-Hasan Al-Basri said that it means, a beating that is not severe. | |||
When the Wife Obeys Her Husband, Means of Annoyance Against Her are Prohibited | |||
}} | |||
{{Quote|[https://quranx.com/Tafsir/Jalal/4.34 Tafsir of Al-Jalalayn on Qur'an 4:34]| | |||
Men are in charge of, they have authority over, women, disciplining them and keeping them in check, because of that with which God has preferred the one over the other, that is, because God has given them the advantage over women, in knowledge, reason, authority and otherwise, and because of what they expend, on them [the women], of their property. Therefore righteous women, among them, are obedient, to their husbands, guarding in the unseen, that is, [guarding] their private parts and otherwise during their spouses’ absence, because of what God has guarded, for them, when He enjoined their male spouses to look after them well. And those you fear may be rebellious, disobedient to you, when such signs appear, admonish them, make them fear God, and share not beds with them, retire to other beds if they manifest such disobedience, and strike them, but not violently, if they refuse to desist [from their rebellion] after leaving them [in separate beds]. If they then obey you, in what is desired from them, do not seek a way against them, a reason to strike them unjustly. God is ever High, Great, so beware of Him, lest He punish you for treating them unjustly. | |||
}} | |||
==Qur'anic Meanings== | ==Qur'anic Meanings== | ||
| Line 58: | Line 79: | ||
Careful study of all the above verses reveals that they do not affect the interpretation of verse 4:34 whatsoever, and that the verb ''daraba'' was indeed correctly understood and translated as "beat." | Careful study of all the above verses reveals that they do not affect the interpretation of verse 4:34 whatsoever, and that the verb ''daraba'' was indeed correctly understood and translated as "beat." | ||
In fact, all the other verses presented which contain ''daraba'' are actually using the term figuratively. For example, "hit the sky" is a figurative expression; nothing can literally "hit" or "crash" with the sky, it is meant to be understood as "fly high through" the sky. The translators and apologists proposing this bad translation will claim that this is a "different meaning" for the word "hit", when in fact it is simply a analogical extension of the main meaning of the verb. In effect this would mean when someone says in Arabic "I'll hit you," in actuality they meant "I'll fly high through you"; the argument is absurd to anyone with even a basic command of Arabic. | In fact, all the other verses presented which contain ''daraba'' are actually using the term figuratively. For example, "hit the sky" is a figurative expression; nothing can literally "hit" or "crash" with the sky, it is meant to be understood as "fly high through" the sky. The translators and apologists proposing this bad translation will claim that this is a "different meaning" for the word "hit", when in fact it is simply a analogical extension of the main meaning of the verb. In effect this would mean when someone says in Arabic "I'll hit you," in actuality they meant "I'll fly high through you"; the argument is absurd to anyone with even a basic command of Arabic. | ||
==Comparison with English Usages== | ==Comparison with English Usages== | ||