The relationship between Islam and domestic violence is disputed. Even among Muslims, the uses and interpretations of Sharia, the moral code and religious law of Islam, lack consensus. Variations in interpretation are due to different schools of Islamic jurisprudence, histories and politics of religious institutions, conversions, reforms, and education.
Domestic violence among the Muslim community is considered a complicated human rights issue due to varying legal remedies for women by the nations where they live, the extent to which they have support or opportunities to divorce their husbands, cultural stigma to hide evidence of abuse, and inability to have abuse recognized by police or the judicial system in some Muslim nations.
Definition
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition, domestic violence is: "the inflicting of physical injury by one family or household member on another; also: a repeated or habitual pattern of such behavior."
Coomaraswamy defines domestic violence as "violence that occurs within the private sphere, generally between individuals who are related through intimacy, blood or law... [It is] nearly always a gender-specific crime, perpetrated by men against women." It used is as a strong form of control and oppression.
In 1993, The United Nations Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women defined domestic violence as: Physical, sexual and psychological violence occurring in the family, including battering, sexual abuse of female children in the household, dowry-related violence, marital rape, female genital mutilation and other traditional practices harmful to women, non-spousal violence and violence related to exploitation.
Islamic texts In the Quran
The interpretation of An-Nisa 34 has been subject to considerable scholarly debate. Various translations render the verse’s directive differently—ranging from “strike them” to “(lightly) strike them,” “beat them,” “scourge them,” or “take practical action with them.”Shahroodi, M., Besharati, Z. (2020). "Reciting of Women Beating in An-nisa' verse :34", Jurisprudence the Essentials of the Islamic Law, 53(1), pp. 125–144. doi:10.22059/jjfil.2020.311500.669026
The key point of dispute centers on the Arabic term "ضَرْب" (ḍarb), which can imply actions ranging from a symbolic, light tap to a more severe physical act. Some modern scholars argue that the term should be understood metaphorically or as a means of corrective discipline, rather than a literal command to inflict physical harm. Others maintain a more literal interpretation, consistent with traditional exegesis. This divergence highlights the broader issues of cultural context, historical usage, and linguistic nuance in interpreting Quranic texts.
Quran 4:34 reads:
Quran interpretations that support domestic violence Lisa HajjarTreacher, Amal. "Reading the Other Women, Feminism, and Islam." Studies in Gender and Sexuality 4.1 (2003); pages 59-71 claims Shari'a law encourages "domestic violence" against women when a husband suspects nushuz (disobedience, disloyalty, rebellion, ill conduct) in his wife.John C. Raines & Daniel C. Maguire (Ed), Farid Esack, What Men Owe to Women: Men's Voices from World Religions, State University of New York (2001), see pages 201-203 Other scholars claim wife beating, for nashizah, is not consistent with modern perspectives of Qur'an.Jackson, Nicky Ali, ed. Encyclopedia of domestic violence. CRC Press, 2007. (see chapter on Qur'anic perspectives on wife abuse) Some conservative translations find that Muslim husbands are permitted to act what is known in Arabic as Idribuhunna with the use of "Strike," and sometimes as much as to hit, chastise, or beat.Ahmed, Ali S. V.; Jibouri, Yasin T. (2004). The Koran: Translation. Elmhurst, NY: Tahrike Tarsile Qurʼān. Print.
In some exegesis such as those of Ibn Kathir (1300 - 1373AD) and Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (839 - 923AD), the actions prescribed in Surah 4:34 above, are to be taken in sequence: the husband is to admonish the wife, after which (if his previous correction was unsuccessful) he may remain separate from her, after which (if his previous correction was still unsuccessful) he mayRoald, Anne S. (2001). Women in Islam: The Western Experience. Routledge. . p 166 give her a light tapping with a Siwak.Ibn Kathir, "Tafsir of Ibn Kathir", Al-Firdous Ltd., London, 2000, 50-53 Ibn 'Abbas, The Cousin of the Prophet, is recorded in the Tafsir of al-Tabari for verse 4:34 as saying that beating without severity is using a siwak (small toothbrush) or a similar object.
A translated passage by Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali and Muhsin Khan in 2007 defines men as the protectors, guardians and maintainers of women, because Allah has made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means. Upon seeing ill-conduct (i.e. disobedience, rebellion, nashuz in Arabic) by his wife, a man may 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.Khan, Muhammad Muhsin; Hilālī, Taqī Al-Dīn. (1993) Interpretation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an in the English Language: a Summarized Version of At-Tabari, Al-Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir with Comments from Sahih Al-Bukhari. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Maktaba Dar-us-Salam. Print.
Some Islamic scholars and commentators have emphasized that hitting, even where permitted, is not to be harshClassic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law, Al-Nawawi, section m10.12, "Dealing with a Rebellious Wife", page 540; may hit her as long as it doesn't draw blood, leave a bruise, or break bones. or some even contend that they should be "more or less symbolic." According to Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Ibn Kathir, the consensus of Islamic scholars is that the above verse describes a light beating.Kathir, Ibn, "Tafsir of Ibn Kathir", Al-Firdous Ltd., London, 2000, 50-53. Abu Shaqqa refers to the edict of Hanafi scholar al-Jassas (d. 981) who notes that the reprimand should be "A non-violent blow with siwak [a small stick used to clean the teeth] or similar. This means that to hit with any other means is legally Islamically forbidden."Roald, Anne S. (2001). Women in Islam: The Western Experience. Routledge. . p. 169
Quran interpretations that do not support domestic violence Indicating the subjective nature of the translations, particularly regarding domestic abuse, Ahmed Ali's 1984 English translation of the word is "to forsake, avoid, or leave." His English translation of Quran 4:34 is: However, in his native Urdu translation of verse 4:34, he translates as "strike them."
Laleh Bakhtiar postulates that is defined as "to go away." This interpretation is supported by the fact that the word , which means to "go abroad" in the sake of Allah, is used in the same Surah (in 4:94) and is derived from the same root word () as in 4:34. However, this translation is negated by the fact that most definitions of in Edward William Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon are related to physical beating and that when the root word and its derivatives are used in the Qur'an in relation to humans or their body parts, it exclusively means physically striking them with a ('toothbrush').
The keywords of Verse 34 of Surah An-Nisa come with various meanings, each of which enables us to know a distinct aspect, meaning and matter. Each aspect, i.e., meanings proposed by commentators, translators, and scholars throughout history for this verse, is according to a distinct wonted system of the family in history. does not mean assault or any form of violence against women. Rather, it means a practical action to inspire disobedient women to obey the legitimate rights of their spouse.
Jurisprudence The discussions in all four Sunni law schools institutionalised the viewpoint of the Quranic exegeses by turning wife-beating into a means of discipline against rebellious wives.
Ayesha Chaudhry has examined the pre-colonial Hanafi texts on domestic violence. Her findings are as follows. Hanafi scholars emphasised the procedure of admonishing, abandoning and hitting the wife. The Hanafi jurists say that it is the husband's duty to physically discipline his wife's arrogance (nushuz). While Hanafi scholars admonish husbands to treat their wives with kindness and equity, they do not recognize the principle of qisas (retributive punishment) for injuries sustained in marriage, unless they cause death, permitting the husband to hit his wife without any liability. Their only condition is that the beating must not kill her; this view was taken from Hanafi scholar Al-Jassas and within this framework they emphasised the need of following the sequence of admonishment, abandonment and hitting. However, al-Jassas also says that the reprimand should only be "A non-violent blow with siwak [a small stick used to clean the teeth] or something similar to it.
According to Ayesha Chaudhary, unlike Hanafi scholars who were more interested in protecting a husband's right to hit his wife for disciplinary purposes, the Malikis tried to stop husbands from abusing this right. The Maliki scholars only allowed striking a rebellious wife with the purpose of rectifying her. They specified that the strike should not be extreme or severe, must not leave marks or cause injuries and that the strike must not be fearsome, cause fractures, break bones, cause disfiguring wounds while punching in general and punching her in the chest were unacceptable and that the strike could not harm the wife. The Malikis held that a husband would be legally liable if the hitting led to the wife's death. They also did not allow a husband to hit his wife if he did not believe the hitting would cause her to stop her arrogance. The Shafi'i scholars upheld the permissibility of wife beating but encouraged avoiding it and did not hold the imperative "wa-ḍribūhunna" to mean an obligatory command. Shafi scholars also restricted what the husband could do in regards to hitting his wife, that he should only hit his wife if he thinks it will be effective in deterring her from her arrogance; he should hit her in a non-extreme (ghayr mubarrih) manner; he should avoid hitting her face, sensitive places, and places of beauty and not hit her in a manner that causes disfiguration, bleeding, that he should not hit the same place repeatedly, loss of limbs, or death. According to Shafi scholars a husband is permitted to hit his wife with a cloth, sandal and a siwak but not with a whip. The views of the Hanbali scholars are a mix of the positions of the other three schools of law.
Evidence of judicial records from the sixteenth century on wards show that Ottoman judges who followed the Hanafi school allowed divorce because of abuse. This did this partially by borrowing rulings from other schools of thought and partially by blending abuse with blasphemy since they reasoned a "true Muslim would not beat his wife."
A number of women in British India between the years of 1920 and 1930s left Islam to obtain judicial divorce because Hanafi law did not permit women to seek divorce in case of cruel treatment by a husband. Mawlana Thanawi reviewed the issue and borrowed the Maliki rulings which permits women to seek divorce because of cruelty by the husband. He expanded the grounds of divorce available to women under Hanafi law.
Undesirability of beating Jonathan A.C. Brown says: