Wife Beating in Islamic Law: Difference between revisions

Given the fact wife-beating is sanctioned in [[Islam and Scripture|Islamic religious texts]], Muslim apologists try to deny this. Here are some arguments made by Muslim apologists.  

Pamela K. Taylor is the co-founder of Muslims for progressive values, former director of the Islamic Writers Alliance and strong supporter of the women Imam movement. On Faith Panelist Blog she states:

Either Taylor is ignorant of some of the teachings in the Qur'an and the Hadith, or she willfully ignores those passages and twists some of the wording to suit her own needs. It has been mentioned before in previous paragraphs the Qur'an and the Hadiths sanction wife-beating, men are superior to women, and Muhammad did strike his wives and did not scold his followers for beating their wives.

{{Quote|[http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/pamela_k_taylor/2009/02/aasiya_hassan_domestic_violenc.html Aasiya Zubair Hassan, Domestic Violence and Islam]<BR>Pamela K. Taylor, The Washington Post, February 27, 2009|Physical and/or emotional abuse has no place in this vision of marriage. Indeed, when women came to the Prophet complaining of their husband's treatment, the Prophet admonished the men saying that those who treated their families poorly were not among the best of men. Mu'awiyah al-Qushayri, one of the companions of the Prophet, reports "I went to the Apostle of Allah and asked him, 'What do you say about our wives?' He replied, 'Feed them with the food you eat, clothe them as you clothe yourself, and do not beat them, and do not revile them." (Sunan Abu-Dawud, Book 11, the Book of Marriage, Number 2139)}}

{{Quote| {{Abudawud|11|2141}}|Narrated Abdullah ibn AbuDhubab: Iyas ibn Abdullah ibn AbuDhubab reported the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon_him) as saying: Do not beat Allah's handmaidens, but when Umar came to the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) and said: Women have become emboldened towards their husbands, he (the Prophet) gave permission to beat them. Then many women came round the family of the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) complaining against their husbands. So the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) said: '''Many women have gone round Muhammad's family complaining against their husbands. They are not the best among you'''.}}

Taylor continues to state in her article.

Taylor mentions Laleh Bakhtiar, a Muslim apologist who states Islam does not preach violence against women and Daraba in Surah 4:34 means to send away. Bakhtiar has written her own version of the Qur'an with surah 4:34 stating to send her away. Her [[Mistranslated Verses|mistranslation]] of this verse has caused controversy among Muslim scholars and the ISNA of [[Canada]] is refusing to sell her book in their bookstore. Contrary to Taylor's claim, there is nothing "particularly strong" in her argument about Daraba, it once again relies upon the ignorance of her readers. To a native [[Arabic]] speaker, this argument holds no weight and has been refuted in our article ''[[Beat your Wives or Separate from Them - Quran 4-34|Beat your Wives or "Separate from Them"? (Qur'an 4:34)]]''.

{{Quote|[http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/pamela_k_taylor/2009/02/aasiya_hassan_domestic_violenc.html Aasiya Zubair Hassan, Domestic Violence and Islam]<BR>Pamela K. Taylor, The Washington Post, February 27, 2009|She described her approach to this verse in a lecture I attended two years ago. She told the audience that she went to many, many scholars and asked them, "Did the Prophet ever hit his wives?" To which all them replied, "No, he never hit his wives." This is directly supported by a hadith narrated by his wife Aishah, who reported "The Messenger of Allah never struck a servant of his with his hand, nor did he ever hit a woman. He never hit anything with his hand, except for when he was fighting a battle in the cause of Allah." Bakhtiar then asked the scholars, "And the Prophet always obeyed Allah, correct?" To which the answer was an emphatic "Yes, the Prophet was the embodiment of the Qur'an."

These conversations between Laleh Bakhtiar and "many, many scholars" most likely had never occurred, since Bakhtiar's approach to surah 4:34 fails once you realize Muhammad ''did'' hit his wife Aisha and he also referred to women who speak-out against their abusive husbands as "not the best among you". Any Muslim scholar worth his salt would be aware of this and would have little difficulty in dismantling her weak arguments against the legitimacy of wife-beating in Islam.

Another common argument is the admittance that beating your wife is permitted, but only lightly, saying the beating should be carried out with a 'miswak' (a traditional toothbrush made from the branch of a Salvadora persica tree). But this miswak defense is not derived from the Qur'an or the hadith literature, therefore it has no validity within Islam. Others base their argument for a light beating on the following translation:

Furthermore, in the previously quoted [[sahih]] hadiths, Aisha stated "I have not seen any woman suffering as much as the believing women. Look! Her skin is greener than her clothes!", meaning the woman who had hoped for compassion from Muhammad was beaten until she was badly bruised. Aisha also stated that Abu Bakr struck her violently with his fist, and Muhammad striking her had caused pain. Evidently, wife-beating in Islam during Muhammad's life, was not something 'symbolic' or a 'gentle tap' on the female body.

Ignoring Muhammad's comparison of women to domestic [[animals]], some may point to the [[The Farewell Sermon|authentic farewell sermon]] and his instructions to “beat them, but not severely,” However, what one considers to be a severe beating is subjective, and within the context of Islam the definition of a “severe beating” is wholly dependent on what Muhammad saw as severe. Muhammad's indifference towards  the suffering of his female followers demonstrates his belief that beating your wife black and blue (or green) is perfectly acceptable behavior. Clearly Muhammad's idea of what constitutes a 'severe' beating and that of the modern worlds is miles apart.