Does Islam Religion Allow Wife Beating?

Does Islam allow wife beating? Some husbands are violent and they say that the Qur'an allows them to beat their wives. Is there any logical explanation given regarding men being allowed to beat their wives, as stated in surat An-Nisa', verse 34?

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger. Commenting on this issue, Dr. Muzammil H. Siddiqi, former President of the Islamic Society of North America, states:

"According to the Qur'an the relationship between the husband and wife should be based on mutual love and kindness. Allah says: "And among His Signs is this, that He created for you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell in tranquility with them, and He has put love and mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are Signs for those who reflect." (Ar-Rum: 21).

The Qur'an urges husbands to treat their wives with kindness. Allah Almighty says: “Live with them on a footing of kindness and equity. If you take a dislike to them it may be that you dislike a thing, and Allah brings about through it a great deal of good.” (An-Nisa’: 19).

It is important that a wife recognizes the authority of her husband in the house. However, in some cases a husband may use some light disciplinary action in order to correct the moral infraction of his wife, but this is only applicable in extreme cases and it should be resorted to if one is sure it would improve the situation. The word "beating" is used in the verse, but it does not mean "physical abuse". The Prophet explained it "dharban ghayra mubarrih" which means "a light tap that leaves no mark". Generally, the Prophet used to discourage his followers from taking even this measure. In one hadith he expressed his extreme repulsion from this behavior and said, "How does anyone of you beat his wife as he beats the stallion camel and then embrace (sleep with) her?” (Al-Bukhari, English Translation, vol. 8, Hadith 68, pp. 42-43).

Dr. Jamal Badawi, professor at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and a cross-appointed faculty member in the Departments of Religious Studies and Management, adds:

"If the problem relates to the wife's behavior, the husband may exhort her and appeal for reason. In most cases, this measure is likely to be sufficient. In cases where the problem persists, the husband may express his displeasure in another peaceful manner, by sleeping in a separate bed from hers. There are cases, however, in which a wife persists in bad habits and showing contempt of her husband and disregard for her marital obligations. Instead of divorce, the husband may resort to another measure that may save the marriage, at least in some cases. Such a measure is more accurately described as a gentle tap on the body, but never on the face, making it more of a symbolic measure than a punitive one.”

The question is: does Islam Religion allow wife beating? It must be seen as a rare exception to the repeated exhortation of mutual respect, kindness and good treatment. Based on the Qur'an and Hadith, this measure may be used in the cases of lewdness on the part of the wife or extreme refraction and rejection of the husband's reasonable requests on a consistent basis. What the Hadith qualifies as "dharban ghayra mubarrih", or light striking, was interpreted by early jurists as a use of siwak! In several hadiths, the Prophet discouraged this measure. Here are some of his sayings in this regard:

"Do not beat the female servants of Allah."

"Some (women) visited my family complaining about their husbands (beating them). These (husbands) are not the best of you."

Any excess, cruelty, family violence committed by any "Muslim" can never be traced, honestly, to any revelatory text. Allah Almighty knows best.

Halal Dating

Dating is getting to know each other. Therefore, no dating is allowed on the premise that dating inevitably leads to premarital sex. 

In Islam consent is very important- that is neither women nor men can be married against their will. Chastity is defined Quranically in 23:6 as avoiding sexual relations outside marriage. According to the Qur'anic commands unmarried men and women should maintain their chastity until marriage. 

It is a common thing to see a white woman marrying a man from a Muslim country. In the past Muslims did not date because of arranged marriages. Are parents in North America going to arrange the marriages of their young children as is done in some Islamic countries? In an arranged marriage, a Muslim family usually investigates the prospective candidate further - talking with teachers, professors, employers, friends, family, Imams, colleagues, etc. to learn about his character.

Young American Muslims have come up with creative solutions to dating--and they fall into roughly three categories. The first group is "Strict Muslims" who date halal. The second group I call "Eid Muslims," because many are not strict in practice and attend mosques only on holidays. While technically they are dating haram, without chaperones, they're keeping physical intimacy to a minimum and parental involvement at a maximum. The third group dates "Sex and the City"-style, openly and freely leading a non-Islamic lifestyle, having premarital sex sometimes in a series of monogamous relationships.

This "Sex and the City" group consists mostly of Muslim men who date non-Muslim women, sometimes convert to Islam and marry their Muslim boyfriends. But some are unceremoniously dumped when the man's parents arrange a halal marriage. Ironically, the "Sex and the City" Muslim man can date freely without risking his standing in the community, while a Muslim woman with the same dating pattern would not only gain a bad reputation but risk losing a good arranged marriage proposal. Upon getting serious with a woman they're dating, though, some of these "Sex and the City" men suddenly reassert their strict Wahhabi upbringing. 

So young Muslims who engage in halal dating seek a commitment first and are vigilant about staying true to their religion. For both Strict and Eid Muslims, couples are introduced to each other, either by parents or friends. Strict Muslims still have a chaperone present and do not even hold hands.

Halal dating fosters a clear understanding between the man and the woman that they are committed to marrying each other. Eventually they will marry in a ceremony attended by their friends and family members.

Many Muslims marry non-Muslim women who convert as a result of halal dating. In Great Britain, Muslim youth intermingle freely and happily with most of their non-Muslim friends. Because there is no shame whatsoever at the school in mixing freely and exchanging views and feelings - but there is enormous suspicion placed upon young Muslim men and women who try to mix freely and exchange views as friends. It is  forbidden in Islam to seek  privacy with someone of the opposite sex without a third party present. 

Currently in North America a Muslim family enquires, discusses, and suggests prospective candidates to their children of marriageable age. 

Islam Cannot be Criticized as a Monolithic Faith

Executive summary about Muslim by Austin Cline

Comments from both Muslims and critics can give the impression that Islam is a single, united, monolithic religion but this is false. In Islam, the major division is between Sunni and Shia Muslims.

Most statements about Islam apply to Sunni Islam, which represents the vast majority of Muslims. Shia Muslims hold the same fundamental beliefs of other Muslims, with the principle addition being that they also believe in an imamate, which is the distinctive institution of Shia Islam.

The real ecclesiastical power lies with the four orthodox schools of legal thought because they define the boundaries of Islamic law, theology, and belief.

1. Maliki: founded by Abd Allah Malik ibn Anas (ca. 715-95).

2. Hanifite: founded by An Numan ibn Thabit Abu Hanifa (ca. 700-67).

3. Shafi'ite: founded by Muhammad ibn Idris ash Shafii (767-820).

4. Hanbali: founded by Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Hanbal (780-855).

Unlike the Sunnis, Shia Muslims have from the start regarded inherited, mystical elements as fundamental to the nature of religious authority. The term Shia is a shortened form of Shiat Ali, which means "the party of Ali". Ali was Muhammad's adoptive brother, the husband of his favorite daughter, and father of his favorite grandsons.

Differences in religious authority create significant differences in how a religion works. Rationalized, legalistic religions require certain types of critical arguments while charismatic, mystical religions require different critical arguments. If you want to critique Islam, then, you need to know which Islam you are critiquing and where it is most vulnerable.

Anti-Muslim crusaders make millions spreading fear

Executive summary about Islam by Bob Smietana

Steven Emerson has 3,390,000 reasons to fear Muslims. That's how many dollars Emerson's for-profit company — Washington-based SAE Productions — collected in 2008 for researching alleged ties between American Muslims and overseas terrorism. Leaders of the so-called "anti-jihad" movement portray themselves as patriots, defending America against radical Islam. One national consultant testified in an ongoing lawsuit aimed at stopping a new Murfreesboro mosque.

The Secular Talibans in France

Executive summary about Islam by Dr. Habib Siddiqui

The French Republic is a far cry from Hobbes's notion of freedom. Last week, neo-Taliban Sarkozy's government gave birth to two new crimes: hiding one's face in public and encouraging another to hide her face. Sarkozy has made it clear that Muslim women who hide their faces are not welcome in France. The French government believes that "to hide the face breaches minimal needs of social life." So hiding one's face in public is now a misdemeanor, with a EUR150 fine and civic training to teach the criminal the need to show her face. It clearly targets the few Muslim women who wear the niqab. According to the prime minister's circular, women who hide their faces wear a badge of inferiority that is "incompatible with the principles of liberty, equality and human dignity affirmed by the French Republic." By refusing to interview and listen to the voices of women who wear niqab, the French government showed how narrow-minded and Taliban-like it is. The new law violates a fundamental principle that defines a free society. In a free society the individual should not be crushed by the majoritarian opinion, allows full expression of individuality, even signs and symbols that may offend some. There are limits that the society often imposes if unbridled freedom can cause harm.

It is simply absurd to believe that those Muslim women who wear niqab are a threat to public and national security, and neither the French police nor the president and French legislators have offered a shred of evidence suggesting any such connection. The French government claims that the new law had everything to do with women's equality, liberty and human dignity. These secular fanatics, closet bigots and xenophobes of the French Republic may like to read John Stuart Mill's short essay "On Liberty," published in 1859.
The new French law does not mesh well with the principles laid out by either Mill or Hobbes.

As I have noted elsewhere, niqab is practiced by a very small fraction within the Muslim community. The Islamic law concerning modesty in women's dress is found in the Qur'an and Sunnah. Imam Zamakhshari offered a very rational interpretation about the exemption. A woman may reveal the face and the hands in her salat, while she must cover the rest of her body. Then Allah commanded them to cover those parts with the khimar.Ó.

A reading of the tafsirs of the Qur'an from the early scholars of Islam makes it quite clear that covering the face was not something that was probably meant in the Qur'an. If a Muslim woman today wears niqab and burqa out of her sense of piety and interpretation of the divine text it is still her right to do so. No state authority should punish them for wanting to hide their faces in public when their conduct presents no danger to the public. The secular fanatics in France aught to measure their conducts against the very precepts of a free society that they claim to uphold. Shame on France and its French-fried-Talibans for enacting laws that epitomize bigotry and chauvinism!

A Basic Guide to Prayer in Islam

Executive summary about Muslim women by Asma bint Gary Dee Rice

It's a major misconception in Islam, that muslim women pray different than men. Outside of the dress code, women do not pray different than men. Men and women pray equally in the same manner.

Seeing-eye horse guides blind Muslim woman

Executive summary about Muslim women by Ben Leubsdorf

Mona Ramouni rides a SMART bus to her job with her guide horse, Cali, in Lincoln Park, Mich; lost her sight soon after birth, but she can't use a guide dog. Many Muslims consider dogs unclean, and Ramouni respects her parents' aversion to having one in their home. The solution, she hopes, is Cali, a miniature horse who stands 30 inches tall and is being trained to help Ramouni through her daily routine.

Seeing-eye dogs are a nonstarter among many Muslims who consider the animals unclean, but a horse the size of a dog just might work. "This is a really awesome little horse," Mona Ramouni said this week as she put Cali, a 3-year-old miniature horse, through her paces and rode the bus to work with her for the first time.

Ramouni, a proofreader of textbooks in Braille, wanted more independence, but a traditional guide dog wasn't an option. The answer, she hopes, is Cali, short for Mexicali Rose.

There are only a handful of the miniature animals trained as guides for the blind in the United States. Ramouni paid for the horse, $450 a month for Arste's training and other expenses out of her savings.

Since Ramouni had never used a dog, she had to learn how to control a guide animal, took on responsibility for caring for the animal as Cali led her through her daily routine. Additional training may take an additional two months before Cali can join Ramouni for good, taking up residence in a newly erected shed on Ramouni's lawn.

Religion in Central Asia

Moslem religion
Islam, meaning in Arabic "giving oneself up to God, submission", is one of the three largest world religions, along with Christianity and Buddhism. A moslem must accept the "five pillars of faith". At present, Moslem believers number about 860 million members in more than 120 countries. The affairs of moslem communities and phetys (precepts, recommendations) on the most important issues of religious life in Central Asia are managed by the Religious Administration of Moslems of Maverounahr, having its head office in Tashkent.

Sufism
Sufism is a religious and philosophical moslem teaching developed in the Arab countries in the 8thc. The cause for the development of sufism was the state of social conditions in moslem countries. Sufism contains elements of New Platonism, Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, and particularly Buddhism.
In the 13thc. - 14thc. a variety of sufism called "Nakshbandia" was founded by Bahovutdin Nukshbandiy. There are some well preserved monuments to the saint sufis in Uzbekistan. Sufi moslems make pilgrimages to these places.

Buddhism
During the Kushan period, various religious systems were widespread in Central Asia. Some Buddhist monuments date back to the period of the Great Kushans.

Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a system of religious beliefs, which spread through the territory of ancient Iran and Central Asia in the 7thc.-6thc. BC. Zoroaster, or Zardusht, Zaraustra, Zardust, is the prophet of Zoroastrianism. It is assumed that Zoroaster began preaching in Eastern Iran and Central Asia, opposed worshiping chiefs of the tribes, priesthood, and old gods. The king was the first to adopt Zoroastrianism.
During the rule of the Arshakids and the Sasanids in Central Asia, Zoroastrianism was the official religion. The fortress dates back to the time when Afrosiab and Siyavush, the legendary hero mentioned in Avesta, ruled.

Africa and Islamic Revival

In 7th century Arabia, Islam has been a faith with an activist tradition, both in theory and in practice. Paying taxes and owing allegiance to an acknowledged political head are integral to the faith of Islam. Independent dynasties became the rule in the African territories of Islam and Islamic Spain, but only two of these came to power with essentially reformist claims: the Almoravids, a Saharan dynasty that ruled Morocco and Spain between the mid-11th and the mid-12th century and their successors, the Atlas mountain Berber dynasty of the Almohads who united much of north-west Africa under their banner from the mid-12th to the mid-13th century.
During the 19th century of the Common Era, only two major revivalist figures in Africa. The first, Usuman dan Fodio, came close to being proclaimed Mahdi but opted instead for establishing an Islamic state in what is now Nigeria. The other, Muhammad Ahmad, proclaimed himself Mahdi in the Sudan, but died before carrying out his grand plans and left it to his successor, the Khalifa 'Abdullahi, to grapple with the day-to-day problems of establishing an Islamic state.
Shehu Usumanu preached against narrow condemnation of the ordinary Moslem on doctrinal grounds, while fostering a movement of wider education and community solidarity among Moslem populations both Fulani and Hausa.
In the political struggles of the late 1950s and early 1960s the Northern Peoples Congress, the dominant party in northern Nigeria, essentially presented itself as the party that embodied the ideals of the Sokoto Caliphate, and its leader: Sir Ahmadu Bello was a descendent of Shehu Usuman. Numerically, Moslems are at least half of the Nigerian population. In particular, in common with revivalists in the Sudan, Pakistan, Egypt, Algeria and elsewhere, they argue that their faith is incomplete if they do not live within a system of Islamic law-shar'ia. For them, it seemed part of an agenda to create an Islamic state.
In Islam, politics and religion are inseparable. This statement highlights the gulf that separates Moslem revivalists from their Christian compatriots, and it points to one of the reasons for Islam's success in Africa and the growing appeal of Islamic revivalism elsewhere.
Although the Mahdi's mission to conquer the world in the name of Islam had failed, his supporters seem not to have given up hope even as they settled for the more modest goal of maintaining a state guided by the laws and precepts of Islam-as they understood them-within the area of the Sudan.
In political terms the Umma party was pro-British and anti-Egyptian and stood for a completely independent Sudan. When the Sudan became independent in 1956, it had renounced any thought of union with Egypt, and the two main political parties ruled in coalition. Turabi officially holds no position in this government-it is, after all, a military government. Needless to say, it has endorsed the present regime in the Sudan.
In the case of Nigeria, Moslems and Christians as well as adherents of African religions were precipitously thrown together in political union by colonialism, were presented with the nation-state as their only political model and, initially, parliamentary democracy as their chosen method of self-government. It showed that the political consciousness of the Moslem community had reached an important point; its members defined themselves as a community separate from all others.