It's ironic how Christians bring up, Muslims men
can beat their wives, when in reality they dismiss their very own bible which
states, a father is allowed to beat and kill his disobedient child.
Do not withhold discipline from a child;
although you strike him with a rod, he will not die. Thou shalt beat him
with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. (proverbs 23:13-14)
Anyone who curses their father or mother is
to be put to death. (Exodus 21:17)
Anyone who curses their father or mother is
to be put to death. Because they have cursed their father or mother, their
blood will be on their own head. (Leviticus 20:9)
As harsh as it may seem this is the reality
of the Bible. The God of the Bible sanctions beating and killing one's own
child, purely for disobeying him.
Now coming to the idea of Islam allowing wife
beating. This is not true. Islam does not allow wife beating, rather in Islam a
husband must love and look after his wife and children.
Prophet Muhammed Pbuh never hit any of his
wives.
ولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ شَيْئًا قَطُّ بِيَدِهِ وَلَا امْرَأَةً وَلَا خَادِمًا إِلَّا أَنْ يُجَاهِدَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ
“Aisha reported
that Allah's Messenger, may Allah bless him, never beat anyone with his hand,
neither a woman nor a servant, but only, in the case when he had been fighting
in the cause of Allah …” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 4296)
Tafsir Ibn Kathir, chapter 68:
Imam Ahmad recorded that `A’ishah said, “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 Jihad in the cause of Allah
Allah Swt describes Prophet Muhammed Pbuh in
the Quran as the best of character.
and you are certainly on the most exalted
standard of moral excellence. (Surah 68:4)
The best description of the Holy Prophet’s
character has been given by Aishah in her statement: Kana khuluqu-hul- Quran:
the Quran was his character. Imam Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Daud. Nasai, Ibn Majah,
Darimi and Ibn Jarir have cited, with a little variation in wording, this
saying with several chains of transmitters. This means that the Prophet had not
merely presented the teaching of the Quran before the world but also given its
practical demonstration by his personal example. Whatever was enjoined in the
Quran was acted upon practically by himself in the first instance. Whatever was
forbidden in it was shunned and avoided by himself most of all. His own self
was characterized most of all by the moral qualities which were declared as
sublime by it, and his own self was most free from those qualities which were
declared as abhorrent and reprehensible by it. In another tradition Aishah has
stated: The Prophet (peace be upon him) never hit a servant, never raised his
hand on a woman, never used his hand to kill a person outside the battlefield,
never avenged himself on anyone for an injury caused unless someone violated a
sanctity enjoined by Allah and he avenged it for the sake of Allah. His
practice was that whenever he had to choose between two things, he would choose
the easier one unless it was a sin, and if it was a sin he would keep away from
it most of all (Musnad Ahmad). Anas says: I served the Prophet (peace be upon
him) for ten years. He never did so much as express even a slight disgust over
what I did or said. He never asked why I had done what I had done, and never
inquired why I had not done what I had not done. (Bukhari, Muslim). (Islamic
Studies Tafheem Commentary)
(And verily, you are on an exalted (standard
of) character.) "It has been mentioned to us that Sa`d bin Hisham asked
`A'ishah about the character of the Messenger of Allah , so she replied: `Have
you not read the Qur'an' Sa`d said: `Of course.' Then she said: `Verily, the
character of the Messenger of Allah was the Qur'an.'' (Ibn Kathir commentary)
As you can read from the above commentary and
Hadith "the Quran was his character." Prophet Muhammed Pbuh never hit
a women. If beating your wife was compulsory,
why then did Prophet Muhammed Pbuh not hit any of his wives? Doesn't this show
wife beating is not allowed in Islam.
Prophet Muhammed Pbuh followed the teachings of the Quran and applied
it. Allah Swt tells us to treat our wives with kindness:
O ye who believe! Ye are forbidden to inherit
women against their will. Nor should ye treat them with harshness, that ye may
Take away part of the dower ye have given them,-except where they have been
guilty of open lewdness; on the contrary live with them on a footing of kindness
and equity. If ye take a dislike to them it may be that ye dislike a thing, and
Allah brings about through it a great deal of good. (Surah 4:19)
Here is another Hadith on men towards their
wives
Abu Hurairah (May
Allah be pleased with him) reported:
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, "The believers who show the most perfect
Faith are those who have the best behaviour, and the best of you are those who
are the best to their wives". (At-Tirmidhi
Book 1, Hadith 278)
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) enjoined kind treatment and honouring of one’s wife, and he described
the best of people as those who are best to their wives. He said: “The best of
you are those who are the best to their wives, and I am the best of you to my
wives.” Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3895; Ibn Maajah, 1977; classed as saheeh by
al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) spoke beautiful word concerning kind treatment of one’s wife, stating
that when the husband feeds his wife and puts a morsel of food in her mouth, he
earns the reward of doing an act of charity. He said, “You never spend anything
but you will be rewarded for it, even the morsel of food that you lift to your
wife’s mouth.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 6352; Muslim, 1628.
“As
to those women on whose part you see ill‑conduct, admonish them (first), (next)
refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly, if it is useful);
but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means (of annoyance).
Surely, Allaah is Ever Most High, Most Great” [al-Nisa’
4:34]
If
a woman rebels against her husband and disobeys his commands, then he should
follow this method of admonishing her, forsaking her in bed and hitting her.
Hitting is subject to the condition that it should not be harsh or cause
injury. Al-Hasan al-Basri said: this means that it should not cause pain.
‘Ata’
said: I said to Ibn ‘Abbaas, what is the kind of hitting that is not harsh? He
said, Hitting with a siwaak and the like. [A siwaak is a small stick or twig
used for cleaning the teeth - Translator]
The
purpose behind this is not to hurt or humiliate the woman, rather it is
intended to make her realize that she has transgressed against her husband’s
rights, and that her husband has the right to set her straight and discipline
her.
Surah 4:34 is the last stage of saving one's
marriage. Again the verse does not say you should BEAT as in domestic violence,
rather scholars have interpreted this verse by saying hit lightly to bring them
back to their senses. As Ibn Abbas Ra
said "hitting with a siwaak and the like" Siwaak is a tiny twig.
Again Islam forbids domestic violence
Bahz bin Hakim
reported on the authority of his father from his grandfather (Mu'awiyah ibn
Haydah) as saying:
I said: Messenger of Allah, how should we
approach our wives and how should we leave them? He replied: Approach your
tilth when or how you will, give her (your wife) food when you take food,
clothe when you clothe yourself, do not revile her face, and do not beat her.
Abu Dawud said: The version of Shu'bah has:
That you give her food when you have food yourself, and that you clothe her
when you clothe yourself. (Sunan Abi Dawud 2143)
Ibn 'Umar (May
Allah be pleased with them) reported:
The Prophet (ﷺ)
said, "The expiation for beating or slapping a slave on the face for
something he has not done is to set him free." (MuslimBook 18, Hadith 95)
Also one should note, after weeks if not
months the last resort would "beating your wife lightly". this could
be due to you finding out she was unfaithful or infidelity from her side.
Again, the idea of beating her lightly is to bring her to reality and remind
her duties towards her family and herself.
Now coming to the Bible. Since we have shown
from the Quran and Hadith how loving and being kind towards your wife is part
of good character, where in the Bible does it prohibit wife beating? It's all
good showing us love your wife like yourself, but what if she is goes against
your right and you find out she was unfaithful or extramarital affair what
would you do? Imagine you have children who depend on their mother and she
cares less about them, how would you deal with the situation if it goes out of
hand? Note, from Hadith we know "beating" your wife lightly is
assigned if the need comes to hand, but what about Christians? How do they deal
with such a situation?
In Islām, a Woman is allowed to take money of her Husband without his permission, if he is not providing the basic needs.
Well, the Bible does tell us what to do in
such situation. Take for instance :
To keep thee from the evil woman, from the
flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. (Proverbs 6:24)
What happens if you have an evil wife?
So beating is permissible providing it takes
away the evil of that person. Again this verse is general, there is no
exception on women. There you have it wife beating is allowed.
But what about your disobedient child? The
bible allows you to beat and kill your disobedient child. Ask any mother if she
would rather take a beating then watch her child get battered with a rod or
killed?
Christians flab their wings accusing Muslims
for beating their wives, yet ignore child killing is sanctioned in the Bible.in
fact their own Jesus reminded the Jews to obey the commandment of killing a
disobedient child.
But he (Jesus) answered and said unto them,
Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For
God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth
father or mother, let him die the death. (Matthew 15:3-4)
The above verses carry on saying how the Jews
don't obey the law given in the Torah, and they changed it for another. Notice
how Jesus is reminding them to follow the law of killing a disobedient child.
So what have we learned from all this? Well,
firstly Islam does not sanction domestic violence not beating up your wife.
Secondly the bible is clear men can beat their wives, or children, id need ne
kill their disobedient child. Thirdly from Hadith we know using a Siwaak (small
twig) should be used if the need to "beating your wife" is necessary
and do not hit her face nor make any marks or hurt her. This would be like a
nudge. Whereas the Bible recommends beating your wife or child with a rod.
Compare a Rod with Siwaak (small twig). We can clearly see the deception from
the Christian side. And finally a report from the Jewish Oral law on wife
beating
Ẓemaḥ ben Paltoi, gaon of
Pumbedita (872–90), allowed a man to flog his wife if she was guilty of
assault. Rabbi *Yehudai b. Naḥman (Yehudai Gaon, 757–61) wrote that:
"…when her husband enters the house, she must rise and cannot sit down
until he sits, and she should never raise her voice against her husband. Even
if he hits her she has to remain silent, because that is how chaste women
behave" (Oẓar ha-Ge'onim, Ket. 169–70). The ninth-century gaon of
Sura, *Sar Shalom b. Boaz (d. c. 859 or 864), distinguished between
an assault on a woman by her husband and an assault on her by a stranger.
The gaon of Sura's opinion was that the husband's assault on
his wife should be judged less severely, since the husband had authority over
his wife (Oẓar ha-Ge'onim, BK 62:198).
commentary on the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah. a
husband may beat a sinning wife (Hilkhos Ishus 21:10),
Sage R. Samuel ha-Nagid
in his book of moral epigrams Ben Mishle writes:
Beat your wife daily,
lest she rule over you like a man, and raise her head up/Be not, my son, your
wife’s wife, and let her not be her husband’s husband” (Ben Mishle, 162)
(Responsa Binyamin Ze’ev, no. 88). The first
three of the five pages of the responsum reflect a very negative attitude
toward wife beating. However, on the fourth page, R. Binyamin Ze’ev adds a
qualification — that a husband may beat his wife to prevent her from sinning,
which includes cursing him or his parents. In other words, R. Binyamin Ze’ev
adopts the first view
---------------------
"Honor thy Father and thy Mother." the Pharisee "Sages" have nullified that.
MISHNAH. HE WHO STRIKES HIS FATHER OR HIS MOTHER IS LIABLE ONLY IF HE WOUNDS THEM.HE WHO CURSES [HIS PARENTS] AFTER DEATH IS LIABLE, WHILST HE WHO SMITES THEM AFTER DEATH IS NOT. (Talmud Sanhedrin 85a)
