Okay, I’ve done a little research on the “Christianity vs. Islam re: wife beating” question. I’m a little offended that this even needs to be addressed, but since apparently it does…
Let’s compare and contrast, shall we? Since I realize that human beings are imperfect, I'll stick with examing original texts, not the various ways they've been used or abused.
I found a fascinating site called
Answering Islam . Their methodology:
this article follows a specific method of exegesis (detailed analysis of a text) in four stages. First, translations from Muslim scholars are offered, so that they, not Westerners, speak for their own sacred text. Second, the historical context and the literary context of the targeted verse are explained, so the life of Muhammad and the early Muslim community can shed some light on the dubious practice. Besides clarifying the verse, this stage is also designed to prevent the standard, reflexive “out of context” defense from Muslim apologists. Third, we allow Muslims themselves to interpret the content of the Quranic verse. This stage is subdivided between the early traditions and four modern commentators, including Hathout. Finally, we ask a few questions about Islam and the possibility of reform, pointing out that Christians are allowed to doubt whether God would send down such a verse, especially when Islam claims to fulfill Christianity.
The whole article is way too long to quote but I recommend clicking the link if you’re interested or want to argue.
First, we have a modern translation (2004) of Sura 4:34
4:34 Husbands should take full care of their wives, with [the bounties] God has given to some more than others and with what they spend out of their own money. Righteous wives are devout and guard what God would have them guard in the husbands’ absence. If you fear high-handedness from your wives, remind them [of the teaching of God], then ignore them when you go to bed, then hit them. If they obey you, you have no right to act against them. God is most high and great. (translation by Egyptian-born M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, educated at Al-Azhar University, Cairo, and Cambridge University and now professor of Islamic Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London)
So there it is, in black and white: “then hit them.” It’s not the first resort listed, but it’s definitely on the list of the righteous way to proceed. There are, of course, other translations, and I encourage you to click the link and check them out.
Also, the article’s author points out:
Sura 4:34 says that husbands may hit their wives if they fear “open unseemliness” and “high-handedness,” quite apart from whether these two character flaws are actually in their wives. This places the interpretation of the wives’ character flaws in the hands of their husbands, even if an objective observer may clarify that he or she sees no flaw in the wives. Sura 4:34, then, opens the door to abuse of the worst kind.
Secondary to the Koran is the Hadith, a collection of testimony *about* Mohammed from those who were there at the time. Kind of like the Gospels.
Ibn Ishaq (c. 704-768), a biographer of Muhammad, who is considered mostly reliable by modern historians (except for the miracles and some chronology), summarizes this part of Muhammad’s sermon, which was delivered during his last pilgrimage to Mecca and heard by thousands:
You have rights over your wives and they have rights over you. You have the right that they should not defile your bed and that they should not behave with open unseemliness. If they do, God allows you to put them in separate rooms and to beat them but not with severity. If they refrain from these things, they have the right to their food and clothing with kindness. Lay injunctions on women kindly, for they are prisoners with you having no control of their own persons. (Guillaume’s translation, p. 651)
So, beat them but
not with severity. Because, after all, "they are prisoners with you having no control of their own persons."
There are also stories of wives in the original group coming to Aisha (Mohammed’s wife) with “green skin” (sounds like a bruise to me) and complaining about their husbands. Mohammed dismissed those complaints with “they are not the best of you”. Aisha also wrote that Mohammed struck her on occasion.
Says Aisha: “He struck me on the chest which caused me pain” (Muslim, vol. 2, no. 2127).
Well, I’m sure she had it coming. </sarcasm>
Again, I encourage you to check out
the link , or just Google “sura beat wife” like I did.
In contrast, from the Bible (New Testament):
I Peter 3:7
Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
I don’t know about you, but to me “understanding” and “showing honor” does not imply any hitting or beating, with or without severity. But we can get more detailed than that.
Ephesians 5:22-33
(22) Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. (23) Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. (25) Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, (26) that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, (27) so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (28) In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (29) For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, (30) because we are members of his body. (31)”Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (32) This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. (33) However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
I quoted the whole thing for context, but let me pull out a few phrases: “Husbands, love your wives”, “husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” “Let each one of you love his wife as himself.” The example given is Christ and the church, with the wife being analogous to the church. What did Christ do for the church? “…gave himself up for her”. Husbands are explicitly told to follow Christ’s example. “
In the same way husbands should love their wives.”
Of course, women are given a few instructions in here, too. “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” and “let the wife see that she respects her husband.” And I know a lot of women have a lot of trouble with those instructions, given our cultural history (yes, Ann, sometimes you do have a point!) *but* my point is, those are instructions to the *wives* -- not the husbands. It does not say “husbands, make sure your wives submit to you.” The wife is to see to it, herself, and there’s no mention of force.
I ran across a few other passages in First Peter and in Ephesians talking about other authority situations, too. Elders are told to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain but eagerly;
not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock” Fathers aren’t to “exasperate” their children. I’m sensing a theme here.
NOWHERE in the New Testament is there anything even approaching “…then hit her.” Please stop implying that there is.
PJ
