Quran 4:34 is read as a law that protects women from spousal abuse, with talking, deserting in bed, and reconciliation by family letting a husband's anger subside before any beating, drawing on Dr. Rashad Khalifa's footnote that the sura defends women's rights. A parable of two brothers climbing eighty floors reflects on abandoned dreams and the ultimate goal of God's kingdom. A reader's web comment criticizes Hadith and idolizing Muhammad.
Many people when they first read the above
verse, get the impression that men have permission to beat their wives
as they wish. They for-get that “wife-beating” has always
been a drama in all societies, and God is the One who is putting the maximum
limitation on it.
When you read the verse carefully, thoughtfully,
and you examine it, you will find that God meant to decree an applicable
law to pre-vent men from beating their wives. And God did it with great
wisdom, in order to obtain the best result
Envision a rebellious woman who is in such
a situation. Her husband, who is obviously angry, might beat her. (Note:
anger is the source of beating. A calm and gentle man will never beat
his wife.) If the husband is a believer, he must go through the following
process:
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Protection of Women
He must first talk with his wife and see if she changes her behavior
or not. This will take some time, and his anger will diminish over
this time. If the rebellious woman does not honor her husband and
doesn’t correct the way she behaves, the husband may desert
her in bed, before using another negative incentive.
Now let’s examine this situation. When these things happen,
usually the family and friends will know about it, and they will
try to reconcile the couple (4:35). Hopefully, this will further
defuse the situa-tion.
As you can see, if a man who is an obedient believer goes through
all these steps, he will never beat his wife, simply because his
anger has diminished over time.
God is the One who has created us, and God knows the best way to
help a man to get ride of his anger, and He knows best how to protect
the women too. He knows that the passage of time helps us the most
when we are trying to suppress our anger. Note: one of the traits
of the believers is that they suppress their anger (3:134).
Once again we must understand that God did not mean to punish
the women by this verse. All He is doing is protecting the women
in a manner that gives the best possible result. And any abuse of
this verse incurs severe retribution.
God could overlook the matter and not even mention it, or He could
say in a straightforward manner that wife-beating is prohibited.
Why doesn’t He? The answer is God has created us, and He knows
better “WHAT” He created. He knew that if He just prohibited
it in a straightforward manner, people
would simply not obey the prohibition
at all and the problem would continue to exist in the society. God
didn’t want that. God wanted an applicable law, with the best
possible result that could come out to protect the women, because
God meant to protect the women.
A valuable law must have applicability, and bring you closer to
the goal. A law that is not capable of being applied does not have
value. There would be no good in a law that can’t be applied.
The best example I can give is that of the communist system. Communism
did not look bad in theory, but it was not applicable. Therefore,
the system failed after a short while. And as a result, not only
the people did not get what they wanted, but their situation worsened.
Another example is when men issued laws to give liberty to the
slaves. It was sudden, and caused a lot of mental and economic problems.
But when God wanted to give liberty to the slaves, He did it with
great wisdom and foresight. He decreed a suitable law that would
give the best result. God decreed, out of His wisdom, that the atonement
for certain sins shall be to free a slave. Thus, slaves were freed
gradually. They had a chance to learn a way to earn their living,
without being homeless or hungry. Thus, they could mingle in society
without having a serious problem or causing a serious problem.
Let’s go back to the subject again. We all know that beating
is bad behavior, and the Quran says “All bad behavior
is condemned by your Lord.” (17:38)
Considering this, how could God possibly give permission to a
husband beat his wife? How about the following verse:
They commit a gross sin,
then say, “We found our parents doing this, and GOD has commanded
us to do it.” Say, “GOD never advocates sin. Are you
saying about GOD what you do not know?” (7:28)
God explains in the Quran that it is the devil that advocates
evil, vice and unrighteousness. The devil does not want us to treat
each other amicably.
O you who believe, do not follow the steps of Satan.
Anyone who follows the steps of Satan should know that he advocates
evil and vice…. (24:21)
Tell My servants to treat each other in the best
possible manner, for the devil will always try to drive a wedge
among them. Surely, the devil is man’s most ardent enemy.
(17:53)
God gives men many different alternatives in verse 4:34 to prevent
this bad behavior. As Dr. Rashad Khalifa has explained in his footnote
for this verse in his translation of the Quran:
God prohibits wife-beating by using the best psychological
approach. If I don’t want you to shop at Market X, I will
ask you to shop at Market Y, then at Market Z, then, as a last resort,
at Market X. This will effectively stop you from shopping at Market
X, without insulting you. Similarly, God provides alternatives to
wife-beating; reasoning with her first, then employing certain negative
incentives. Remember that the theme of this sura is defending the
women’s rights and countering the prevalent oppression of
women. Any interpretation of the verses of this sura must be in
favor of the women. This sura’s theme is “protection
of women.”
May God bless us to understand the true meaning of His revelations,
always.
Laleh
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Anecdote
There were once two brothers who lived on the 80th level. On coming
home one day, they realised to their dismay that the lifts (elevators)
were not working and that they had to climb the stairs home.
After struggling to the 20th level, panting and tired, they decided
to abandon their bags and come back for them the next day. They
left their bags there and climbed on. When they struggled to the
40th level, the younger brother started to grumble and both of them
began to quarrel. They continued to climb the flights of steps,
quarrelling all the way to the 60th floor.
They then realised that they had only 20 levels more to climb
and decided to stop quarrelling and continue climbing in peace.
They silently climbed on and reached their home at long last. Each
stood calmly before the door and waited for the other to open the
door. And they realised that the key was in their bags which were
left on the 20th floor….
This story is a reflection on our lives... Many of us live under
the expectations of our parents, teachers and friends when young.
We seldom get to do the things that we really like and love and
are under so much pressure and stress so that by the age of 20,
we get tired and decide to dump this load.
Being free of the stress and pressure, we work enthusiastically
and dream ambitious wishes. But by the time we reach 40 years old,
we start to lose our vision and dreams.
We began to feel unsatisfied and start to complain and criticise.
We live life in misery as we are never satisfied. Reaching 60, we
realise that we have little time left for complaining and we began
to walk the final episode in peace and calmness.
We think that there is nothing left to disappoint us, only to
realise that we cannot rest in peace because we have an unfulfilled
dream, a dream we abandoned 60 years ago....
So what is your dream?... Follow your dreams so that you will
not live with regrets… [Of course our ultimate dream should
be to make into God’s kingdom by His grace and mercy. Therefore
we should worship God alone and follow His path so that we will
not have eternal remorse in the Hereafter.]
Submitted by Sister Asia from Singapore
Comments on the WEB
Now THIS is what I feel Islam is all about. I have
looked over many of your articles, and love them.
I was raised in the Anglican Church, and was going
to be a priest, and during my studies, I have found how when man
puts in something a prophet was suppose to have said, it can change
a religion forever and is nothing like it once was.
I like your article on Dogs. You know, it is said
Dogs can also see things we cannot. Like things in the spirit world.
Maybe this is why Satan causes the Hadith to speak against them,
because they might warn up of him, or his followers.
I think the Quran is great, however the Hadith takes
away from the Quran, and make Islam look very silly, and full of
fables.
I have seen the idol worship in Islam. It is there.
Muhammad is given a place right along side GOD, and it is wrong.
A submitter in Kentucky
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International Community of Submitters / Masjid Tucson