Beating women, or beating around the bush, or …

The following article is by the Turkish Muslim scholar and writer Edip Yuksel. 

“Verse 4:34 of the Quran orders believers to beat their wives; so, Islam is a male dominant religion.” Many of us have heard this criticism from Christians, atheists, agnostics, etc. Personally, every time I read 4:34, I felt that something was wrong. How does God, the Most Wise order us to beat our women? What kind of solution is that? It is in contrast to the verses in which God describes marriage:

“Among His signs is that He created for you spouses from among yourselves, in order to have tranquility and contentment with each other. He places in your heart love and care towards your spouses. In this, there are signs for people who think.” (30:21)

Obviously, this mixed messages have bothered many contemporary translators of the Quran. To avoid the moral and intellectual problems, they tried to soften the word “beat” when they translate the verse 4:34. For instance, Yusuf Ali uses a merciful parentheses after “beat” to save women:

“. . . As to those women on whose part you fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly). . .” (4:34)

Many tried to “beat” around the bush to “beat” the problem generated by the “beat” of 4:34.

When I finished the Turkish translation (1991), this verse was on the top of my orange list to study carefully. Whenever I encounter a problem regarding the understanding of a Quranic verse, I remember 20:114 and pray accordingly: “Most Exalted is God, the only true King. Do not rush into (understanding) the Quran before it is revealed to you, an say, ‘My Lord, increase my knowledge.’”

Almost all of the translations have mistranslated the four key words or terms of this particular verse. These are: “Qawwamune,” “Faddallallahu ba’dahum ala ba’d,” “Nushuzehunne,” and “Fadribuhunne.”  In our late book, “Errors in Turkish Translations” (Istanbul, 1992) we have discussed the real meaning of these words and the motivation and reasons for mistranslating them. Here, we will focus on the last word, “Fadribuhunne.”

A Famous Multi-Meaning Word

The problem comes from the word “Idribuhunne” which we used to translate as “beat them”. The root of this word is “DaRaBa”. If you look at any Arabic dictionary you will find a long list of meanings ascribed to this word. That list is one of the longest list in whole Arabic dictionary. It can be said that “DaRaBa” is the number-one multi-meaning word in Arabic. It has so many different meanings, we can find numerous different meanings ascribed to it in the Quran.

To travel, to get out: 3:156; 4:101; 38:44; 73:20; 2:273

To strike: 2:60,73; 7:160; 8:12; 20:77; 24:31; 26:63; 37:93; 47:4

To beat: 8:50; 47:27

To set up: 43:58; 57:13

To give (examples): 14:24,45; 16:75,76,112; 18:32,45; 24:35; 30:28,58;

36:78; 39:27,29; 43:17; 59:21; 66:10,11

To take away, to ignore: 43:5

To condemn: 2:61

To seal, to draw over: 18:11

To cover: 24:31

To explain: 13:17

As you see, in Quran alone we can witness the verb “DaRaBa” having at least ten different meanings. “DaRaBa” has also other meanings which are not mentioned in the Quran. For example, in the Arabic language, you  do not print money–you “DaRaBa” money, you do not multiply numbers–you “DaRaBa” numbers,  you do not cease the work–you “DaRaBa” the work. In Turkish we have many verbs similar to DaRaBa, such as “tutmak”, “calmak”, “vurmak” etc. In English we have two verbs which are almost equivalent to “DaRaBa”. These are  “strike” and “beat”.

Webster’s Dictionary gives fourteen meanings to the verb “strike”: hit (against); ignite; (of snake) bite; (of plants) (cause to) take root; attack; hook (fish); sound (time) as bell in clock etc.; affect; arrive at, come upon; enter mind of; discover (gold, oil etc.); dismantle, remove; make (coin); cease work as protest or to make demands. The same dictionary gives eight  meanings to the verb “beat”: strike repeatedly; overcome; surpass; stir vigorously with striking action; flap (wings); make, wear (path); throb;  sail against wind.

In the beginning of this article (underlined) I deliberately used “beat” in three different meanings in a single statement just to show the variety of meanings in a single word. In English, when we order someone to “beat it” we mean “get out”. Similarly in Arabic, when we order someone with the commend form of “DaRaBa”, that is  “iDRiB”, we mean “get out”.

How Can We Find The Appropriate Meaning

When we encounter a multi-meaning word, we select the proper  meaning according to the context, forms, and common sense. For instance, if we had have translated “DaRaBa” in 13:17 as “beat” instead of “explain”, the meaning would be ridiculous:

“. . .  God thus beats the truth and falsehood.” (13:17)

 Another example of mistranslation of “DaRaBa” can be found in the translation of 38:44. All the translations (except Dr. Khalifa’s translation) inject a male-made story to justify their silly translation.

Here is how Yusuf Ali translates the verse about Job:

 ”And take in the hand a little grass, and strike therewith: and break not (the oath).”

Yusuf Ali, in the footnote narrates the traditional story: “He (Job) must have said in his haste to the woman that he would beat her: he is asked now to correct her with only a wisp of grass, to show that he was gentle and humble as well as patient and constant.”

However, without injecting this story, we can translate it as the following:

“Now, you shall travel the land to fulfill your pledge (that is to deliver the message).” We found him steadfast. What a good servant! He was a submitter.” (38:44)

 Let’s turn back to 4:34

Additionally, the word “Nushuz” which is generally translated as “opposition” has another meaning which can be translated as degrees of disloyalty ranging from flirtation to sexual liaison. If we study 4:34 carefully we will find a clue that leads us to translate that word as “flirting or cheating” or “extramarital affair” (Any word or words that reflect the range of disloyalty in marriage). The clue is the phrase before “Nushuz” as reads: “. . . and observe God’s commandments, even when alone in their privacy.” This phrase emphasizes the importance of loyalty in marriage life.

Furthermore, the same word “Nushuz” is used in 4:128, but it is used to describe the misbehavior of husbands not wives as was in 4:34. So, the traditional translation of “Nushuz”, that is, “opposition” will not fit here. In vertical relations, “opposition” cannot be a double-edged behavior. So, translators try to avoid this contradiction by ascribing just the opposite meaning of “opposition”, i.e., “oppression” in verse 4:128. However, the meaning of “Nushuz” as “disloyalty” is appropriate for both cases described in 4:34 and 4:128.

A Coherent Understanding

When we read 4:34 we should not understand “idribuhunne” as “beat those women”. We must  remember that this word has many meanings. God gives us three ways of dealing with extra-marital-affair. In the beginning stage of such misbehavior husband should start from giving advice. If it does not work and she goes further and commit a proven adultery, that time husband has the right to strike them out (4:34 & 65:1).

Let’s present our suggestion for the translation of verse 4:34

“Men take care of women, since God has endowed each of them with certain qualities and men spend from their financial resources. The righteous women are obedient (to God) and during the absence (of their husband) they honor them according to God’s commandment. As for those women whom you are experiencing a fear of disloyalty from, you shall first advice them, then (if they continue) you may desert them in bed, then you may strike them out. If they obey you then don’t transgress against them. God is Most High, Supreme (4:34).

 Beating women who are cheating is not an ultimate solution; but “striking them out” from your house is the best solution. And it is fair too.

Lessons that can be learnt from the Satanic Verses

I don’t know if the case of the Satanic Verses or what we Muslims call the “Gharaniq verses” is true or not, but I wonder why anyone would treat it as scandalous or use it to suspect the authenticity of prophet Muhammed (pbuh) as a Messenger of God.

Almost all modern students of Islam dispel the Gharaniq incident as a fabricated tale but it was mentioned in four early major biographies of the Prophet. It appears in al-Waqidi, Ibn Saad, al-Tabari (it appears as two different versions in Tabari), and Ibn Ishaq. It is also indirectly and in part referred to in Bukhari:

6.385 Narrated Ibn Abbas: The Prophet performed a prostration when he finished reciting Surat an-Najm, and all the Muslims and pagans and Jinns and human beings prostrated along with him.

There are two passages in the Quran that refer to the event and appear in the four biographies as part of discussion on the Gharaniq event. The first is (22:52-54) and the second passage is (17:73-75)

Authenticity of Quran

I personally think the Gharaniq event is a powerful event that carries extremely important lessons. If it is true then it only strengthens the authenticity of the Quran as the unaltered and constantly approved word of God. No one could add anything to the Quran on their own, not even the Prophet. It dispels the argument non-Muslims often put forth that Quran was written by the Prophet. Had the Prophet been the author of the Quran the Gharaniq verses would have been included in the Quran to please the pagans.

Allah’s wrath

It also proves that Allah will not pardon anyone who commits a sin against Him for He tells Muhammed (pbuh) that had he erred his punishment would have been double:

They sought to entice you from Our revelations – they nearly did -hoping that you might invent some other scripture in Our name, and thus become their trusted friend. Indeed had we not strengthened your faith, you might have made some compromise with them and thus incurred a double punishment in this life and in the next. Then you should have found none to help you against Us. (17:73-75)

Such words must have really upset the Prophet as he was cautioned so severely right in the beginning of his career even though he did not utter those two verses purposefully.

Furthermore, the credibility of the Prophet is enhanced with the inclusion of this stern reprimand (17:73-75) in the Quran. Would the Prophet have included such unsympathetic verses against him in the Quran if he was the author/editor of the Quran?

Concept of infallibility of prophets

The event also clarifies the concept of ismah (infallibility of prophets) in that infallibility does not mean that prophets were free from making mistakes, but that no mistake they ever made was left uncorrected by God because God Himself says:

We did not send before you any messenger or prophet, without having the devil interfere with his wishes. God then overrides what the devil has cast, and God secures His signs (22:52).

Prophet’s challenge and exodus

Another result of this episode was that the Prophet’s challenge became many times more difficult after he retracted the verses and openly condemned the three goddesses with the newly revealed verses:

Have ye seen Lat and ‘Uzza, And another, the third (goddess), Manat? These are nothing but names which ye have devised,- ye and your fathers,- for which Allah has sent down no authority (whatever). They follow nothing but conjecture and what their own souls desire!- Even though there has already come to them Guidance from their Lord! How many-so-ever be the angels in the heavens, their intercession will avail nothing except after Allah has given leave for whom He pleases and that he is acceptable to Him.  (53:19-20/23/26) 

The consequence of the retraction was that a ban was placed upon him by the Quraish which eventually led to the exodus of Muslims to Medina.

 I feel there is no reason for Muslims to apologize for the inclusion of the Gharaniq event in the four biographies because the episode only strengthens the legitimacy of the Prophet, his message and his God. 

Mary in the Quran

About a year ago someone wrote to me asking me to explain why Mary is the only woman mentioned in the Quran if Jesus is not the son of God. S/he claimed that Mary is the most important woman in the history of Islam because God had chosen her Himself:

“Behold! the angels said: ‘O Mary! God hath chosen thee and purified thee – chosen thee above the women of all nations.’” (3:42).

Mary is a very important woman in Islam but she is not the only woman mentioned in the Quran. While she is the only one mentioned by name, other women mentioned are:

·        Eve (20-120),

·        Sarah (11:71-72),

·        wives of Lot and Noah (66:10),

·        mother and sister of Moses (28:7,10,11),

·        wife of Moses (28:23-27),

·        women of Aziz (12:23, 31, 51),

·        Asiya the wife of a Pharaoh (66:11),

·        Queen Sheeba (27: 23-24, 34-35, 42-44),

·        wife of Imran (3:33-36),

·        and Khoulah bint Thalabah (58:1).  

Hagar is mentioned 21 times in the Torah, by name, but she is not mentioned in the Quran at all although like the Jewish Matriarch Sarah, Hagar is the Muslim Matriarch.

So what is it about Mary?

Mary’s name appears in the Quran many times and Jesus is called Jesus the son of Mary. The entire Surah 19 is named after Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Other places where she appears are:

·        Mary’s birth when her mother says “And not wise is the male like the female.” (3:34)

·        Gabriel comes to Mary (3:45)

·        Immaculate conception (3:47) and (66:12)

·        Her choice as mother of Jesus (3:42)

·        Her chastity and obedience to God (66:12)

Mary is mentioned by name because she is the only woman about whom truth is severely distorted in the Gospel. Not so in the Old Testament but in the New Testament, Mary is literally made the Mother of God and that is the one most serious issue with God – partnership.

If duality of God was acceptable, Abraham the great Patriarch of monotheism would have been taught that, but he wasn’t. Duality of God and the belief in Trinity is explicitly forbidden by the Quran and is called the greatest sin. God ensures in the Quran to unambiguously announce that Jesus is not the son of God and the “Holy Spirit” is but only the angel Gabriel – the Ruhul Qudus.

Thus, Quran mentions Mary by name not only because she is an important woman but also because the lie attached to her is the most important to address:

Surah Mary (34-35):

Such was Jesus, son of Mary: (this is) a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. It befitteth not (the Majesty of) Allah that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory be to Him! When He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is. 

 

 

Exalted and Debased

In reading the first five ayats of Surah Mutaffifin (Those Who Give Short Measure), it struck me how truly integrated the grandeur of God is woven into the most mundane of tasks. The verses say:

WOE UNTO THOSE who give short measure: those who, when they are to receive their due from [other] people, demand that it be given in full – but when they have to measure or weigh whatever they owe to others, give less than what is due! Do they not know that they are bound to be raised from the dead [and called to account] on an awesome Day – the Day when all men shall stand before the Sustainer of all the worlds? (83: 1-5)

To me this signifies that nothing that we do is without consequence. Everything is meaningful and has a powerful spiritual dimension, whether it be running a business or sustaining a relationship.

It strikes me that the human being is given so much significance in some places in the Quran and yet debased in others. In these ayats, for example, even our commercial transactions are considered imporant enough to receive an accounting in the very presence of God as we stand before Him. And yet God reminds us that we are, after all, nothing but seminal fluid (86:5-6), and that we are but beggars before Him (47:38).

There is, then, nothing intrinsically significant about us. At our core, we are nothing but drops of liquid. But because He involves Himself so intrically into our most mundane of tasks, we are exalted. Whatever our worth, it stems from Him, to the extent that He deems fit.

Thoughts on Surah Fatiha

Author of this post is Brother Naeem. Originally posted on Brother Naeem’s blog.

As I was contemplating on the beauty of Sura Fatiha, it struck me how powerful the essential dua’a in the sura is:

“Guide us to the straight path”

We’re asking Allah (swt) to guide us to the path of righteousness. But which path is that? Thus Allah (swt) answers in the following verse:

“The path of those upon whom You (Allah) have bestowed Your blessings.”

So it’s a path characterized not by ideals or principles, but by the people who embody those very ideals and principles.

It’s not the path of the Quran. It’s not the path of the Hadith. It’s not the path of detailed Fiqh or correct Aqeedah. It’s not the path of dry texts and lifeless manuscripts.

It’s the path of living, breathing individuals. It’s the path traversed by our noble elders, who are able to pass along the experiences and life-long lessons of this journey. It’s the path of beacons of light who we are blessed to sit with and learn from. It’s the path of following the good examples and shunning the bad ones.

It’s the path of interacting with society, not the path of isolating oneself.

It’s the path of sitting at the feet of a teacher, not the path of Do-It-Yourself.

It’s the path of discovering and emulating these vibrant gems of society, not the path of mechanically memorizing drab data from bloodless books.

It’s the path of debasing oneself before another (for the purpose of learning), not the path of anointing oneself over another (for the purpose of teaching).

It’s the path navigated by our spiritual forefathers.

Let us all embark on our journey down this path.

The Difference between the Bismillah of each Surah

It was always a Question in my mind that why in Quran every Surah has a separated bismillah. It’s like you enter a house and you just say a salam, and when you come out to leave you say another salam too. It’s true that we start reading every surah with a bismillah at first -even in the middle of a surah, for starting to recite Quran in the name of Allah. But when we finish a surah, there is another bismillah for next surah that we usually say. Now after sometimes i found this interesting article about it.

The ‘bismillah’ preceding one surah is different from that preceding another surah.

We were saying to which word the preposition and the noun it governs in the ‘bismillah’ are related. One of the possibilities is that the ‘bismillah’ of every surah is related to some appropriate word of that very surah; for example in the Surah al-Hamd it may be related to the word, al-Hamd. In that case ‘bismillahi al-hamdu lillahi’ would mean: With the name of Allah all praises belong to Allah.

On the basis of this possibility ‘bismillah’ would signify differently in every surah, for in each surah it would be referring to a different word. If it was related to the word ‘al-hamdu’ in the Surah ‘al-Hamd,’ we would have to look for some other appropriate word, for example, in the Surah ‘al-Ikhlas’.

According to a rule of theology, if somebody pronounced the bismillah with some surah and then wanted to recite another surah, he would have to repeat the bismillah, and the previous bismillah would not be enough for him. This rule shows that ‘bismillah’ does not have the same meaning everywhere. It has a different significance with each surah, although there are some people who wrongly maintain that ‘bismillah’ is not the part of any surah and it is quite a separate verse revealed as a benediction.

If it is accepted that ‘bismillah’ was related to ‘al-Hamd’ then ‘hamd’ might include everything to which the word ‘hamd’ applied, that is every kind of praise expressed by anybody on any occasion. Thus the verse would mean that every praise expressed is with the name of Allah, because he who expresses it is himself a name of Allah; his organs and limbs are a name of Allah and the praise he expresses is also a name of Allah.

From this point of view every praise is with the name of Allah. We all are His names, or manifestations of His names, because we all are His signs, He is our originator, who has brought us into existence. The Divine Originator is in several ways different from a natural cause or agent. One of the points of difference is that anything that is brought into existence by the Divine Originator, or in other words, anything that emerges from the Divine source disappears in that very source.

To illustrate this point to some extent, let us take up an example, although this example falls too short of the relation between the Creator and the created. Anyhow, let us take up the example of the sun and its rays. The rays have no existence separate from the sun.

The same is the case with the Divine Originator or the Creator. Anything coming into existence from this source depends on it for its existence as well as continuation. There is no existing being which can continue to exist if Allah withdraws from it even for an amount the light on which its existence depends. As no existing thing has any independent position, it is said to be lost in its source.

Book: Light Within Me – Murtaza Mutahari