Wife Beating in the Qur'an: Difference between revisions

A second verse deals with the issue but much more obliquely. {{Quote|{{Quran-range|38|41|44}}| They will say, "Exalted are You! You, [O Allah], are our benefactor not them. Rather, they used to worship the jinn; most of them were believers in them." But today you do not hold for one another [the power of] benefit or harm, and We will say to those who wronged, "Taste the punishment of the Fire, which you used to deny." And when our verses are recited to them as clear evidences, they say, "This is not but a man who wishes to avert you from that which your fathers were worshipping." And they say, "This is not except a lie invented." And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it has come to them, "This is not but obvious magic." And We had not given them any scriptures which they could study, and We had not sent to them before you, [O Muhammad], any warner. }}ibn Kathir notes on this verse that Allah gave Ayub (Job) the option to hit his wife with a bundle of twigs without having to carry out his promise to beat her 100 blows:{{Quote|Tafsir of ibn Kathir on Qur'an  38:41-44|(And take in your hand a bundle of thin grass and strike therewith (your wife), and break not your oath.) 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.}}This verse was later used in hadith and [[Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence)]] to discuss alternatives to several hadd punishments in the case of frail, vulnerable people. These discussions, however, did not very often touch on the propriety of rightness of wife beating; discussions on this topic tended to proceed from the discussions around 4:34.  

Muqaatil said "This verse came down in regards to Sa'd bin Rabi' and he was of the Nuqabaa', and his wife Habiba bint Zayd bin Abi Zuhayr, and the two of them were of the Ansar. What happened was that she was disobedient to him and he struck her, then her father set out with her to the prophet--peace and prayers of Allah be upon him--and he said "I gave my daughter to him and he hit her." The prophet--eace and prayers of Allah be upon him--said "let you take vengence from her husband." And she parted with her father to take vengence on him (by her father striking him), the The prophet--eace and prayers of Allah be upon him--said "return, Jibreel peace be upon him has brought me this" and then Allah the most High brought down this verse. Then the prophet--eace and prayers of Allah be upon him--said "We wanted one thing and Allah wanted (another) thing, and what Allah wants is good" and so ends the story.}}Al-Wahidi also gives a second version of the same story:{{Quote|shorturl.at/qvLU7|حدَّثنا يونس عن الحسن:

  Yunis told us through Al-Hasan: A man struck his wife, she took the case to the prophet of god peace and prayer of All be upon him, and her parents went with her and they said: "Oh Prophet of Allah, someone struck our daughter. This made the prophet of Allah say: reprisal is reprisal (meaning let the repirsal happen). And he hadn't rendered his judgement, when this verse came down "Men are in power over women....." And the messenger of Allah peace and prayers of Allah be upon him said "We wanted one thing and Allah wanted something else."

}}He also offers a seemingly abridged 3rd version of the story:{{Quote|shorturl.at/qvLU7| إسماعيل، عن الحسن، قال:

لما نزلت آية القصاص بين المسلمين لطم رجل امرأته، فانطلقت إلى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم، فقالت: إن زوجي لطمني فالقصاص، قال: القصاص، فبينا هو كذلك أَنزل الله تعالى: ﴿ٱلرِّجَالُ قَوَّامُونَ عَلَى ٱلنِّسَآءِ بِمَا فَضَّلَ ٱللَّهُ بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ﴾ فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: أردنا أمراً فأبى الله تعالى [إلا غيرَه]. خذ أيها الرجل بيد امرأَتك.

 

Isma'il said through Al-Hasan: When the verse of retribution between Muslims was revealed a man struck his wife, then they set out to the prophet, peace and prayers of Allah be upon him, then she said: verily my husband struck me, what of the retribution? He said "Retribution is between us" then as he did Allah revealed the verse of "Men are in power over women in what Allah has favored them in over eachother (4:34)." The prophet of Allah peace and prayers of Allah be upon him said: "We wanted one thing and Allah refused it (in favor of something else). Oh Man, take the hand of your wife (and leave without retribution)."}}From all of these a general story can be extracted: a man hit his wife, there was a complain against him in the community for this, and Muhammad ordered the punishment of the wife beater. The sources portray this desire of Muhammad to outlaw wife-beating as being opposed by the will of [[Allah (God)]]. Allah sends down this verse in response to these circumstances, showing that contra Muhammad it is the will of Allah that men should beat their own wives if they are disobedient.