The Meaning of Daraba: Difference between revisions

"Men are overseers over women, by reason of that wherewith Allah hath made one of them excel over another, and by reason of that which they expend of their substance. Wherefore righteous women are obedient, and are watchers in husbands absence by the aid and protection of Allah. And those wives whose refractoriness ye fear, exhort them, and avoid them in beds, '''and beat them'''; but if they obey you, seek not a way against them; verily Allah is ever Lofty, Grand." }}The word "wadribuuhunna" means "beat them (i.e. the wives of men)," yet some modern Islamic [[Dawah|du'aah]], embarrassed about this obvious command for men to beat their wives in the Qur'an, have claimed rather that this verb means to "separate from them" or to "strike them out (sic)." All the verses in the [[Qur'an]] that contain ''daraba'' against a human (as a direct object) are understood to mean "beat" or "strike" that human, by their context, and this is agreed upon by these obscure "modern" translations. The only reason to translate the verb "daraba" to mean "separate from them" is to obfuscate the meaning of the verse for modern readers who view the injunction for men to beat their wives as barbaric, inhumane, incompatible with modern human rights. The attempts to translate this word in this way is novel, done only for audiences in majority non-Muslim countries, and flies in the face of over a thousand years of Islamic commentary and exegesis.  

An argument has been presented on some Islamic websites ( exclusively geared towards western audiences) and by some Muslims and apologists which claim to have "modern" translations of the [[Qur'an]]<ref>Such as [http://free-minds.org Free-Minds.org] and [http://progressive-muslims.org Progressive-Muslims.org]</ref>, which claims that the Arabic verb "ضرب" "daraba" means something other than to "strike" "beat" or "hit." Alternatives offered include "separate from them" or somewhat nonsensically for a native English speaker  "strike them out." The people making these claims are generally seeking to "reform" [[Islam]], but this translation flies in the face of over a thousand years of understanding of the Arabic language, by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.  These apologetic arguments are clearly directed people of a westernized/liberal background with little to no knowledge of Arabic, as any Muslim who has an adequate command of the [[Arabic]] language or any non-Muslim Arab, or any non-Arabic speaking Muslim familiar with the [[hadith]] and [[tafsir]] text [[Wife Beating in Islamic Law#Islamic_Scriptures_and_Wife-Beating|related to this issue]], will find the claim being presented to be ridiculous and prima facia untenable. Despite this, the obviously incorrect translation of this verb can be found in prominent cases such as that of Laleh Bakhtiar, an American Muslim apologist. She went so far as to incorporate this incorrect translation into her  translation of the Qur'an, a translation which the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) refused to sell in their bookstore for its inaccuracy.

 

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. These partisan 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, but is advanced by Muslim apologists for a non-Arabic speaking audience to allay their embarrassment over this verse.

Ten of these metaphorical/derived meanings are as follows (note that the nouns in the brackets are the objects to be hit):

#Set out (''Road'')

#When an English speaker "hits the road," [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY4jondX6tg as in this famous song], it means he "departed" or "set out." It surely doesn't mean he got a hammer and hit the road with it. The base meaning of "hit" remains untouched when not used with "the road."

#When an English speaker says they will "hit the Mouse," they mean to say they will "click on the mouse." The base meaning of "hit" remains untouched when not used with "the mouse."

#When an English speaker says they'll "hit the bottle," what they really mean is, they'll "drink the bottle" or "drink alcohol heavily." The base meaning of "hit" remains untouched when not used with "the bottle."

#When a darts player "hits the target" in English, he didn't get the dart board and break it, he simply shot the dart and it "landed on the target." The base meaning of "hit" remains untouched when not used with "the target."

#When an author's book "hits the market" in English, it means the book "reaches the market." The base meaning of "hit" remains untouched when not used with "the market."

#When an English speaker says they'll "hit the brakes," it doesn't mean they'll break the braking pedal, but rather it mean they'll "press on the brakes" to stop the car. The base meaning of "hit" remains untouched when not used with "the the brakes."

#When a an English speaker "hits the beach," they didn't fall from the 11th floor and "crash" into the beach, but they "went to the beach." The base meaning of "hit" remains untouched when not used with "the beach."

#When an English speaker says its fine but it didn't "hit the spot," they mean to say its fine but didn't fulfill their needs. The base meaning of "hit" remains untouched when not used with "the spot."

#When an English speaker says the activists "hit the streets," it means the activists "demonstrated in the streets." The base meaning of "hit" remains untouched when not used with "the streets."

#When an English speaker says they "hit the jackpot" it actually means they "won the jackpot." The base meaning of "hit" remains untouched when not used with "the jackpot."

 

As can clearly be seen, each of those sentences involves a different meaning of the word "hit", which is applied accordingly to the object used in combination with it. Yet even with all of these "different meanings" of the word "hit" in mind, the sentence "I will hit my woman" remains clear: the meaning is "I shall strike my woman", or in Arabic "سوف أضرب إمرأتي" There is no possible alternative meaning to "I will ''beat'' my woman."' The difference between, for example, "hit the road" and "hit the woman", is the ''object'' to be hit, and not the meaning of "hit" itself; the meanings of the two sentences are different but clear.

What follows now is a discussion of ''daraba'' in the contexts where it is found in the Qur'an with a meaning other than "to hit" or "to strike." The original verse in Arabic will be presented, along with word-by-word literal translation of the statement in '''Bold''' in each verse, which is the place where ''daraba'' (hit) and its object (i.e. Land) are used; and above each verse will be found the name of the object being hit. For example, in the example of the phrase "strikean example," its will literally translation will be presented as is, not as "give an example" like the standard Qur'anic translations. Although this translation may sound strange, it will make the object to be hit, easily identifiable for the non-Arabic speakers.

''daraboo ضَرَبُوا۟''  is derived from ''daraba ضرب'', meaning "hit" 'beat" or "strike." ''Fee في'' literally means "in". ''Al-Ardi'' ٱلْأَرْضِ  means "the land" or "the earth." Thus, the whole statement ''daraboo fee al-ardi'' ضَرَبُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ translates literally as "hit in the land", with a meaning of something like "hit the road" that is "'''to travel'''", a clearly figurative extension of the main meaning of the verb,  "hit."

"Hit" here gives this meaning only when it is against "land"; it is a well-known expression in Arabic.

''darabtum fee al-ardi ضَرَبْتُمْ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ'' literally meaning "you (plural) hit in the land" again meaning here "'''to travel'''" or to move across the land.  

''yadriboona fee al-ardi'' يَضْرِبُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ literally meaning "they hit in the land" again meaning here "'''to travel'''" or to move across the land.  

''darban fee al-ardi'' ضَرْبًا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ literally  "a hit in the land" again meaning "'''moving about in the land'''."

''faduriba baynahum bisoorin'' فَضُرِبَ بَيْنَهُم بِسُورٍ literally  "a wall was struck between them" which is understood as "'''a wall was placed between them'''."

''daraba Allahu mathalan ضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًا'' literally  "Allah struck an example",  meaning "'''he gave an example.'''"  

''Waidrib lahum mathala'' وَٱضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلَ literally "'''and struck for them an example'''" meaning "'''and he gave an example.'''"

''wayadribu Allahu al-amthala وَيَضْرِبُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْأَمْثَٰلَ'' literally meaning "'''And Allah hits the examples'''" with the meaning that "'''he Allah provides the examples.'''"  

''Daraba lakum mathalan'' ضَرَبَ لَكُم مَّثَلًا literally meaning "'''struck an example for you'''" meaning and "'''and he set forth for you all an example.'''"  

''darabna liInnasi fee hatha alqur-ani min kulli mathalin وَلَقَدْ ضَرَبْنَا لِلنَّاسِ فِى هَٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانِ مِن كُلِّ مَثَلٍ'' literally meaning "'''We have struck in this Quran for every example for the people'''" meaning "'''we have given an example for the people in this Qur'an.'''"

''Walaqad darabna liInnasi fee hatha alqur-ani min kulli mathalin وَلَقَدْ ضَرَبْنَا لِلنَّاسِ فِى هَٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانِ مِن كُلِّ مَثَلٍ'' literally meaning "'''And we have struck in this Quran from every example for the people'''"

''Daraba Allahu mathalan ضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًا'' literally meaning "'''Allah stuck an example'''"

''bima daraba liIrrahmani mathalan'' بِمَا ضَرَبَ لِلرَّحْمَٰنِ مَثَلًا literally meaning "'''in the examples struck by the Merciful'''" with a meaning of "in the examples given by the merciful."  

''watilka al-amthalu nadribuha liInnasi'' وَتِلْكَ ٱلْأَمْثَٰلُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ literally meaning "'''and these are the examples that we struck for the people'''"

''Daraba Allahu mathalan ضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًا'' literally meaning "'''Allah has strikes an example'''" and with a meaning

''Wadaraba Allahu mathalan وَضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًا'' literally meaning "'''And Allah has strikes an example'''" meaning "'''and Allah has given an example.'''"

''Afanadribu 'ankumu aIththikra'' أَفَنَضْرِبُ عَنكُمُ ٱلذِّكْرَ literally meaning "'''shall we strike the remembrance from you'''" meaning "shall we forget to remind you." Again, this is a known expression.

''waduribat 'alayhimu aIdhdhillatu wulmaskanatu وَضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلذِّلَّةُ وَٱلْمَسْكَنَةُ''  literally meaning "'''and the humiliation and poverty was struck open him'''" id est "he was struck down/laid low with humiliation and poverty." The humiliation and poverty are the subjects of the passive verb here, will Moses and his people are the objects of the preposition "'ala" على meaning "upon."

''Fadarabna AAala adhanihim فَضَرَبْنَا عَلَىٰٓ ءَاذَانِهِمْ'' literally meaning "'''we have hit upon their ears,'''" which is a common expression in Arabic that means "'''we will make your ears hear nothing.'''" Just like "beat your feet" can mean "start walking." What was hit here was the ears, ''not'' the people themselves.

This verse mentions the verb ''daraba ضرب'' twice. In the first occurrence, it says ''walyadribna bikhumurihinna AAala juyoobihinna وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَىٰ جُيُوبِهِنَّ ۖ'' literally meaning "'''and they should strike their veils over their bosoms'''," meaning they should place their veils over their bosoms or cover their bosoms.

Another two instances of "daraba" here: ''yadribu Allahu alhaqqa waalbatila يَضْرِبُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْحَقَّ وَٱلْبَٰطِلَ ۚ'' literally meaning "'''Allah hits the truth and the vanity'''," as in "Allahs explains the truth and the vanity."

The main meaing of "daraba" is to hit or strike, including with a sword where the meaning should be rendered in English as "cut", "chop", or "chop off."

''idrib bi'asaka alhajara ٱضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ ٱلْحَجَرَ'' literally meaning "'''hit the rock.'''"

''idriboohu bibaAAdiha ٱضْرِبُوهُ بِبَعْضِهَا'' literally means "'''beat him with part of her.'''" The one to be beaten is the dead man [a whole human], which is the equivalent of the wife [a whole human] who is to be beaten as instructed in verse 4:34. The only possible meaning here for ''daraba'' is "strike" or "beat." The mysterious translation of "separate from them" that was used instead of "beat" in 4:34 cannot be applied here, as the cow and the man were '''definitely not connected''' in any way to be "separated." This verse confirms for us, that when you are told to "''daraba"'' a man, it means to strike or beat them. Thus, it is logical to conclude that ''daraba'' against a woman will also mean to "strike" or "beat" them, not "separate".

''idrib bi'asaka alhajara ٱضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ ٱلْحَجَرَ'' literally meaning "'''hit the rock.'''"

''faidriboo fawqa al-a'naqi waidriboo minhum kulla bananin فَٱضْرِبُوا۟ فَوْقَ ٱلْأَعْنَاقِ وَٱضْرِبُوا۟ مِنْهُمْ كُلَّ بَنَانٍ'' literally meaning "'''hit over the necks and hit from them all their fingers.'''" The first "hit" means "beat" and the second means "cut-off." Both objects here are not whole bodies, but only parts (necks and fingers).

''faid'rib lahum -tareeqan'' فَٱضْرِبْ لَهُمْ طَرِيقًا  literally meaning "'''so strike a road for them."''' The usage is somewhat eccentric here for an English speaker, but the idea is that a strike or hit will carve out a path for Moses through the sea.

This verse is a repeat and has already been discussed under the section below - ''To cover''.

''an udrib bi'asaka albahra أَنِ ٱضْرِب بِّعَصَاكَ ٱلْبَحْرَ'' literally meaning "'''to hit with your stick the sea.'''"

This is a great example. Here, ''darban bialyameeni ضَرْبًۢا بِٱلْيَمِينِ'' literally means "'''hit them [people] with the right [hand].'''" According to this verse, when verb ''daraban'' ''ضَرْبًۢا'' is applied to humans, it means "beat" or "strike." It cannot be translated as "separate them from your right hand," as that is utterly ridiculous. The Islamic sites in question, also agrees that ''daraban'' here means  "strike."

''fadarba aIrriqabi'' فَضَرْبَ ٱلرِّقَابِ literally meaning "'''the hit of the necks.'''" as in "beaten on their necks."

''yadriboona wujoohahum يَضْرِبُونَ وُجُوهَهُمْ'' literally meaning "'''hit their faces,'''" or "beat their faces."

''yadriboona wujoohahum ضْرِبُونَ وُجُوهَهُمْ'' literally meaning "'''hit their faces.'''"