23January2008
Hey, what happened to you sir(s)? Haven't you notice thousands of women have been killed and abused by their husbands/partners in non-Muslim families & in Western world too; today and everyday for many years? Could you please tell the readers why these non-Muslims husbands have also been enjoying the "wife beating" practice and previleges those should only be for Muslims only (the lesson of Islam and the Quran), isn't it? Are they all stupids and should stop following the Quran instead? Are these non-Muslims supposed to follow the injunction (of wife beating) of the Quran? Very strange!
If all these non-Muslim "wife beaters" have NOT been following the Quran and still beating, abusing and killing their wives/partners; where are they getting all the inspirations and lessons of wife-beating from? Any idea? Surely, not from the Bible or any other Holy book.
Why do you always narrow down your listing targeting only Muslimfor wife beating? Open your both eyes, look through the "Man-dominated (civilized) wild kingdom" where the "lion is the only king" and must reign over women with muscle and physical power. Not all lions are Muslims but all lions are the kings over all lioness?
To see all these "Man's superPower for ever", you do not need to go back to 1400 years old days; Just look around and see today's News papers both from the EAST and the WEST. Have you ever heard of "Satidaha" (Burying the wives ALIVE in graves with their dead husbands). Isn't it something Holy? I forgot what relation exactly the "event of burying wife alive" has in context to the lessons of the Quran. Please say more about it if you know anything. Well, I bet, this would not be your favorite subject & would be boring too !!! Right?
Just wake up and do not make Islam as the scapegoat of everything conveniently when you feel uncomfortable to blame others. You are practicing your tempered judicial-mind in making Islam as target of opportunity.
Ask your mind, ask your soul; hear meticulously what are coming from there?
Mohammad Gani
Cambridge, Massachusetts
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On 1/22/08, S Turkman <turkman@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
Let me understand this. Are you people not accusing us mis-interpreting verses of Qoraan, when have been doing this for 1400 years?Have not you guys been re-interpreting Qoraan for more than a thousand years?Had you not issue Edicts that later you reversed centuries later in some cases after getting thousands of Moslim be-headed because you had been proven wrong, Science proved you wrong or people stopped believing in your those Edicts or FaTwah?Who had issued these FaTawah or Edicts quoting verses of Qoraan if not you Mollaas or so called great Scholars of Islam?1. Whole Universe circles around Earth and Earth is on stand still.2. Earth is not round. Its flat.3. Every Qoraan is a live soul as Humans.4. Its against words of Allah to translate Qoraan in any language.5. Planets move back and forth.6. Its okay in Islam for a Husband to rape Slave of a Wife because Wife herself is Slave of her Husband.7. Its okay in Islam for father of a Husband to rape Slave of his Wife or his Slave without his or his Wife's permission.8. Its okay in Islam for brothers and cousins to rape a Slave of a person with his due permission.9. Studying Astronomy & Astrology is against Islam.10. Studying Physics and Chemistry is against Islam.11. Studying Anatomy and Biology is against Islam.12. Studying Philosophy, Psychology and Psychiatry is against Islam.13. Learning English is against Islam. (This was issued in Indian Sub Continent. Sir Syed Ahmed Khan had to fled to Great Britain to avoid being assassinated. He came back growing his beards for two years and had to be provided British protection against Mollaas).14. Sir Syed deserves beheading because he is no more a Moslim.15. Sir Allaamaa Iqbal deserves beheading being a 'Dehriyah'.16. Mr. Jinnah deserves beheading because he is a 'MorTiD'.17. Whoever believes that man has landed on Moon is no more a Moslim. (Over 1600 of your Scholars from all Moslim Countries had signed this in 1968).18. Godless USSR and Christian USA are partners in this Hoax. Its their mutually agreed Conspiracy to weaken our faith in Islam propagating that man has landed on Moon, when we have Moslim witnesses to prove, what people saw on TV was shot in a Hollywood Studio and was rehearsed in Florida for months. (Later turned-out that one of the Witnesses was an Egyptian Christian working in a Hollywood Studio as a Stage hand, who said, I was only asked if there were any Science Fiction Space Movies shot in my Studio. The other one working as a Janitor at NASA had said, I had only said, "I had seen Astronauts practicing for Moon Landing". None of them had said, Moon Landing was a Hollywood shot movie and it was a hoax but more than 1600 Scholars of Islam from all over the world had signed this Edict).19. Meteors we sometimes see in our night sky? They are fired at Satan, when he tries to enter 'JannuT'. (Can anybody tell me in which direction is JannuT then because Meteors seem to be coming from all 4 directions towards earth? How come Science hasn't found 'JannuT in any of directions and the distance from earth that Meteors seem to appear in the sky?)20. Hit Satan with Pebbles on Hajj ...! Why with Pebbles? Why not just blow him away with a Mortar Fire if he is really there? If he can't die of Mortar Fire, why hit him with little Pebbles? What's the proof, we are really hurting him? Who do you think, you are fooling?Now with present facts and a history like that our Mollaas can still stand up and tell us they are right about everything and everybody else is wrong?Don't they have any shame ...!I guess not because they keep their shame under a Borqah and never wear Nickers or Shorts.-------------------------------------Amin Sarkar <sarkarga@yahoo.com> wrote:Salam:Here is the article below that argues against beating wife in Islam. Those who are interested in picking just one word from Quran to justfy wife beating, may also justify that according to Quran Muslims should have four wives although it is conditional and Quran is the only scripture that speaks about one wife. May be in the future, people can come with the justification that according to Quran there is no God as the word "La Ilaha" is there.A. Sarkar_______________________________QURAN – IS BEATING WIFE OKAY?<In "Woman: Chastisement & Other Issues" by Shah Abdul Halim>The most misunderstood verse of the Quran which has been interpreted by the scholars of the earlier generation that justify the beating of the wife by the husband is 4 (Surat An Nisa): 34 -35 and the Arabic root verb is daraba. To arrive at the clear meaning of the verse of the Quran we shall try to reconcile the verses of the Quran and try to explain one verse of the Quran with ! the help of another verse of the Quran for that is the most methodical approach of the interpretation of the Quran. We shall then refer to the seerah or the life of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) for necessary guidance in this matter. We shall also examine the literal and etymological meaning of the word daraba in its different derivatives as appeared in various verses of the Quran.To grasp the precise meaning of the verse of the Quran we shall use English rendering of the Quran by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, Marmaduke Pikthall; Sayyid Qutub, T. B. Irving and joint English translation of the meaning of the noble Quran by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan and Dr. Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali.We shall now quote the most misunderstood verse of the Quran, which has been used for cruelty against women. Abdullah Yusuf Ali translated verse 34-35 of Surat An Nisa is as: Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband 's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part you fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next) refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly) [Arabic word used in the verse is wadribuhunna]; but if they return to obedience seek not against them means (of annoyance): for Allah is Most High, Great (above you all). If you fear a breach between them twain, appoint (two) arbiters, one from his family, and the other from hers; if they seek to set things aright, Allah will cause their reconciliation; for Allah has full knowledge, and is acquainted with all things [Al Quran 4 (Surat An Nisa): 34-35] ('The Holy Quran: English translation of the Meanings and Commentary '. Revised & Edited by The Presidency of the Islamic Research, IFTA, Call and Guidance. King Fahd Holy Quran Printing Complex.Saudi Arabia. pp 219-220).If one closely reads and examines the aforementioned verse of the Quran keeping in view overall spirit of the matrimonial relationship of mutual love, affection and fellow feeling between the spouses and inbuilt structure of family on compassion and benevolence, one must necessarily conclude that intolerant attitude of the husband like recourse to beating the wife cannot be a way for continuation of peaceful and harmonious conjugal life rather such cruel attitude of the husband is bound to create mutual suspicion and promote mistrust among the partners that might ultimately result in the disintegration and breakup of the family. Moreover, if the third step to resolve marital dispute is daraba, translated as beating as mentioned in the verse quoted above, the fourth step cannot be arbitration for if the husband take the extreme step of beating wife, the arbiters will have little scope for mediation. Logic also suggests that the spouses would also naturally prefer to keep their differences secret to avoid disgrace, embarrassment and humiliation in front of the society unless they take the farthest step for divorce. What then is the inner meaning of the word daraba which is an instrument to bring about reconciliation and peace between the enraged spouses? Although the English translation of the word wadribuhunna (root verb being daraba) has been made as beat them lightly, the word lightly is not mentioned in the revealed text of the verse quoted above and therefore the question of beating wife by the husband does not arise irrespective of the level and degree of the beating if the husband is keen and really interested in the continuation of the marriage.Now if we read the aforementioned verse [Al Quran 4 (Surat An Nisa):34-35] together with 2 (Surat Al Baqarah): 231 wherein the husband has been advised not to take back wife to injure, it becomes clear that the meaning of the word daraba cannot be beating. Al Quran states: When you divorce women and they (are about to) fulfill the term of their (iddat), either take them back on equitable terms or set them free on equitable terms, but do not take them back to injure them … [Al Quran 2 (Surat Al Baqarah): 231]. Again in verse 33 (Sura Al Ahzab): 49 Allah has ordained husbands to release wives in a graceful manner. Al Quran states: … give them a present and release them in a handsome manner [Al Quran 33 (Sura Al Ahzab): 49]. In another verse Al Quran states: … The parties should either hold together on equitable terms or separate with kindness … [Al Quran 2 (Surat Al Baqarah): 229]. If separation between the spouses has to be made with grace and kindness, how the basis of reconciliation of disputes between the husband and wife can be beating? It is therefore evident from the above comparative study of the verses of the Quran that the meaning of the idiom daraba, which is an instrument of reconciliation of marital disputes, cannot be beating of wife by the husband. Further, women are the embodiment of beauty, by nature emotional and fragile and therefore question of resorting to beating wife by husband to resolve rupture and rift in conjugal life does not arise.Does the word daraba then signify any allegorical, metaphorical or symbolic meaning beyond its literal and etymological connotation? Now if we fall back to the life of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) as to what he (SAWS) did to resolve his (SAWS) differences with his (SAWS) wives. There is no record that Prophet (SAWS) ever slapped, beat, stroke or punched any of his (SAWS) wives. "Never did the Prophet (SAWS) raise his (SAWS) hand to any of his (SAWS) wives; all the testimonies show him (SAWS) as attentive and respectful to the person and the personality of the women who surrounded him (SAWS) " (Tariq Ramadhan. ' Islam, the West and the Challenges of Modernity'. p 341). Prophet (SAWS) "not only did never raise his (SAWS) hand to strike any of his wives, but he (SAWS) condemned wife-beating " ('Feminism & Islam: Legal and Literary perspectives '. p 312). Famita Mernissi , a sociologist of international reputation and a teacher at the University of Mohammad, Rabat, Morocco in her book 'The Veil and The Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women 's Rights in Islam'! wrote: "The Prophet never raised his hand against one of his wives … The only time when the Prophet was confronted with a domestic revolt, a rebellion by some of his wives, not only did he not beat them, but he preferred to leave his home and, to the great surprise of the city, to move for almost a month to a room adjoining the mosque "(Fatima Mernissi. ' The Veil and The Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam '. Perseus Books, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp 156-157). Who else knew more than Prophet (SAWS), who (SAWS) is the official interpreter of the Quran [Al Quran16 (Surat Al Nahl): 44], the meaning and significance of the instruction of this verse? Prophet (SAWS) understood the implication and siprit of the verse and therefore he (SAWS) did not resort to beating. What Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) did is that he (SAWS) resorted to al-mashrabah, moved away from his residential quarters for a month or so without inflicting any physical injury to enable the noble ladies ponder and try to understand the consequences of living in isolation from the husband, the mental pain and agony which a wife has to experience in the absence of the husband and realize the gravity and seriousness of recalcitrance and defiance. The most candid meaning of the root verb daraba in the dialect and language of the Quran therefore implies and signifies to "leave ", to "moving away ", to "separate " (Eminent Saudi intellectual Dr. AbdulHamid AbuSulayman, President, International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT), USA and formerly Rector of International Islamic University, Malaysia. 'Chastising Women: A Means to Resolve Marital Problems ', original article in Arabic and translated into English by Dr. Mazen A. Al Najjar). It is significant that the text of the Quran does not use the word daraba to denote physical or corporal punishment rather the Quran uses jalada (to lash, to whip, to flog etc). Al Quran states: The woman! and the man guilty of fornication flog each of them with a hundred stripes … [24 (Sura An Nur): 2].We shall now have a glimpse over the whole Quran and identify the verses of the Quran where the word daraba has appeared in the Quran with its different meanings, connotations and derivatives in all seventeen distinct nuances or representations. The idiom daraba in the land denotes to travel or to depart [Al Quran 4 (Surat An Nisa): 101. Arabic word used in the verse is waiza darabtum]. With respect to ear, the verb daraba means to block or to prevent hearing [Al Quran 18 (Surat Al Kahf): 11. Arabic word used in the verse is fadarabna]. And with regard to revelation, daraba means to stop, to halt, to abandon and to take away [Al Quran 43 (Sura Az Zukhruf): 5. Arabic word used in the verse is afanadribu]. Obviously, for the truth and false, daraba means to make both of them evident and to distinguish them from each other [Al Quran 38 (Sura Sad): 44. Arabic word used in the verse is fadribbihi]; whereas, for veils, daraba connotes to draw them over and to cover the bosom [Al Quran 24 (Sura An Nur): 31. Arabic word used in the verse is walyadribna]. In the seas or rivers, daraba is to strike a path through the water and set the water aside [Al Quran 20 (Sura Ta Ha): 77 Arabic word used in the verse is fadrib and Al Quran 26 (Sura Ash Shuaraa): 63 Arabic word used in the verse is anidrib]. But for humiliation and shame, daraba is to signify that both of them are pitched over people [Al Quran 2 (Surat Al Baqarah): 61. Arabic word used in the verse is wadribat]; however, for a wall, daraba means to be erected, that is, to indicate partition or separation [Al Quran 57 (Sura Al Hadid): 13. Arabic word used in the verse is faduriba]. With regard to the finger tips, necks, faces and backs, daraba means to cut, to slash and to strike [Al Quran 8 (Surat Al Anfal): 12 Arabic word used in the verse is fadribu and Al Quran 47 (Sura Muhammad): 4 Arabic word used in the verse is fadarba and Al Quran 47 (Sura Muhammad): 27 Arabic word used in the verse is yadribuna] ; whereas, for the rest of the verses [16 (Surat Al Nahl): 76, 16 (Surat Al Nahl): 112, 66 (Sura At Tahrim): 11; 43 (Sura Az Zukhruf):57; 17 (Surat Bani Israil): 48; 2 (Surat Al Baqarah): 26, 16 (Surat Al Nahl): 74; 2 (Surat Al Baqarah): 60; 3 (Surat Al-i-Imran): 112; 4 (Surat An Nisa): 94 and 37 (Sura As Saffat): 93], daraba means to impel, to shock, to slap, or to damage so as to precipitate the desired impact which is relevant to each respective situation, action or interaction (Dr. AbdulHamid AbuSulayman, 'Chastising Women: A Means to Resolve Marital Problems).Now if we rewrite the translation of the verse 34-35 of Surat An Nisa by Abdullah Yusuf Ali in the light of the meaning of the word daraba as explained by Dr. AbdulHamid AbuSulayman and quoted above, the meaning of the verse becomes: Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband 's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part you fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next) refuse to share their beds, (and last) leave the nuptial nest [or move away from the nuptial nest or separate from the nuptial nest]; but if they return to obedience seek not against them means (of annoyance): for Allah is Most High, Great (above you all). If you fear a breach between them twain, appoint (two) arbiters, one from his family, and the other from hers; if they seek to set things aright, Allah will cause their reconciliation; for Allah has full knowledge, and is acquainted with all things [Al Quran 4 (Surat An Nisa): 34-35].It is therefore clear from what has been discussed quoting revealed text of the Quran, life of the Prophet (SAWS) and opinion of the contemporary eminent Islamic scholars, academicians, researchers and jurists that there is no scope of beating of Muslim wife by the Muslim husband.
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