"I WANTED ONE THING AND GOD WANTED ANOTHER . . . ": The Dilemma of the Prophetic Example and the Qur'anic Injunction on Wife-Beating

Chapter 4, verse 34 of the Qur'an permits husbands to physically discipline recalcitrant wives. Modern Muslims who find this husbandly privilege discomfiting often rely on Muhammad's prophetic practice to mitigate the meaning of this verse. In light of Muhammad's example of never hitt...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of religious ethics Vol. 39; no. 3; pp. 416 - 439
Main Author: Chaudhry, Ayesha S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Malden, USA Blackwell Publishing Inc 01.09.2011
Wiley Subscription Services
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects:
Discipline
FOCUS ON THE DISOBEDIENT PROPHET IN MUSLIM THOUGHT
Husbands
Islam
Islamic law
Islamic life & ethics
Koran
Marriage
Men
Muslims
Obedience
Prophet Muhammad
prophetic practice
Qur'anic exegesis
Quran
Religious ethics
Slave women
Slaves
Spousal abuse
Sunnah
wife-beating
Wives
ISSN:0384-9694, 1467-9795
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Chapter 4, verse 34 of the Qur'an permits husbands to physically discipline recalcitrant wives. Modern Muslims who find this husbandly privilege discomfiting often rely on Muhammad's prophetic practice to mitigate the meaning of this verse. In light of Muhammad's example of never hitting his own wives, as found in one prophetic report, they reinterpret the verse as restricting and/or voiding a husband's right to physically discipline his wife. This essay provides a critical and expository survey of prophetic reports related to the husbandly privilege to physically discipline wives. The essay argues that the modernists are correct in positing that Muhammad's prophetic practice was to morally censure husbands who hit their wives. However, taken as a whole, it is impossible to ignore that Muhammad's example also unilaterally upheld physical discipline as a husband's marital right.
Bibliography:ArticleID:JORE487
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ISSN:0384-9694
1467-9795
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9795.2011.00487.x