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The three major translations of the Qur'an from Arabic into English
by Muslims were completed early in the 20th century. Though
working independently, each translator came to the same conclusion
concerning verse 4:34 - namely that it commands husbands to beat
their wives in a manner that causes pain - if the circumstances
agree. This in line with the traditional interpretation that
Islamic clerics have held since the time of Muhammad. After
all, the Qur'an plainly states that men are
in charge
of women.
Enter the modern age, when wife-beating isn't as trendy as it used
to be, and suddenly contemporary Muslim apologists living in
Judeo-Christian societies are having epiphanies as to the original
meaning of verse 4:34. Apparently the true intention of the
verse was hidden from Islamic scholars and ordinary Muslims for
fourteen centuries and it is only now coming to light that hitting a
woman for any reason is "completely against Islam," which coincides,
curiously enough, with the modern Western revulsion for such a
practice.
Muhammad used the Arabic word 'idribuhunna' in the verse, which is
derived from 'daraba' and usually does mean "to beat." Another
derivation, however, means "to go abroad," which leaves our
desperate apologist with an exit strategy, it seems. This is
what Muhammad must have truly meant, they tell us. If a man
can't get the little woman to come to her senses, then he should
move out of his own house and back in with his parents until she
does.
Sure, sure. This sounds like Islam, doesn't it? The
religion that sprang out of the harsh Arabian Peninsula to lay waste
to an ever-widening swath of homes, fields and hapless populations
with shocking brutality... the religion that cannibalized entire
cultures and turned vibrant people into terrorized, subordinate
slaves and dhimmis... is really just intended to bring out the Alan
Alda in your man after a hard day of pillaging.
But how realistic is it that Muhammad, who taught that women should
be made to share their marital bed with three other wives at their
husband's discretion (but stoned for adultery)... who established the
"triple talaq" rule that a woman can be thrown out of the house at
any time... who did not disapprove of his men raping women captured in
battle... how likely is it that Muhammad would be telling a man to
move out of the house rather than use physical force to keep his
woman in line?
Not likely. Not likely at all.
Fortunately, we don't have to guess at what Muhammad's position on
wife-beating actually was and which meaning of 'daraba' he intended,
since the Hadith records at least one instance in which he
struck
his own (underage) wife in the chest while she was lying in bed.
This would be Aisha, his favorite wife, and he did so because she
left the house without his permission. Now, if he treated his
favorite wife this way, one can only imagine how he might have acted
toward his other wives, concubines and slaves.
Naturally, the apologists leave this little tidbit out of their
arguments. Neither do they educate their audience of
another case
that is recorded in one of Islam's most sacred books in which a
woman came to Muhammad for help after being beaten so badly by her
husband that "her skin was greener than her clothes." The
prophet simply rebuked the woman and sent her back to her man with
explicit instructions to have more sex.
Look, we're all in favor of Muslims bringing their religion out of
the 7th century, but if this can only be done through strategic
omission and fringe sophistry, then we have to ask what is the point
of salvaging Islam? Why not just pick another religion that's
closer to what you want Islam to be?
Oh, that's right the Religion of Peace threatens murder for anyone
who leaves.
Never has this means of intimidation been more necessary than in the
information age, when many Muslims are learning for the first time
about the history and true teachings of their religion, and how
poorly it contrasts with others.
[Additional Note (5-19-06) - Not all Western Muslims are as intent
on disguising their religion with slight-of-hand. The
multilingual site, IslamQA.com is quite
blunt
about the four conditions under which a husband may
beat his wife:
Discipline. The husband
has the right to discipline his wife if she disobeys him in
something good, not if she disobeys him in something sinful, because
Allaah has enjoined disciplining women by forsaking them in bed and
by hitting them, when they do not obey.
The Hanafis mentioned four situations in which a husband is
permitted to discipline his wife by hitting her. These are: not
adorning herself when he wants her to; not responding when he calls
her to bed and she is taahirah (pure, i.e., not menstruating); not
praying; and going out of the house without his permission.
See also:
The Religion of Peace Guide to Wife Beating
Go back to the List of Islamic
Terrorist Attacks
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