I was re-reading ayah 4:34 and thought it would be interesting to discuss the oft quoted, oft debated, and oft attacked ayah from the Quran.
Surah Nisaa (04.034)
(Yusuf Ali) Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other, and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in (the husband’s) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct, admonish them (first), (Next), refuse to share their beds, (And last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience, seek not against them Means (of annoyance): For Allah is Most High, Great (above you all).
(Shakir) Men are the maintainers of women because Allah has made some of them to excel others and because they spend out of their property; the good women are therefore obedient, guarding the unseen as Allah has guarded; and (as to) those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.
The ayah is from the surah called Surah Nisaa (women) and addresses “three main problems which confronted the Holy Prophet at the time” in Medinah after migration (Maududi).
Universally, the particular verse I have quoted has been understood as – men are protectors of women as they are better/stronger than women. Good women are obedient to their husbands and guard their chastity. If a man fears disloyalty and disobedience from his wife he should first admonish her verbally, then refuse sex to her and finally beat her so she returns to the right path. Once she starts to obey her husband he should not try to seek revenge for earlier misconduct because Allah is always watching.
This is the most common interpretation.
I personally don’t think this is what the ayah means. My refusal to accept the interpretations is not a complete rejection and is based on a few facts. The ayahs were not revealed together in the order in which they appear in the surah. “This Surah comprises several discourses which were revealed on different occasions during the period ranging probably between the end of A. H. 3 and the end of A. H. 4 or the beginning of A. H. 5.” (Maududi). Although reading it in a sequence allows for better understanding of the commandments (see verse 33 and 35 which seem to flow fluidly along with verse 34), the compilation of the ayahs can also lead to wrong interpretations.
How I understand the ayah is if we read it in Arabic as shown below:
First, no where in the verse does it say that men excel women especially in strength. The beginning of the verse means, “Men are maintainers of women because of what Allah has gifted them as more than the other” and the word “fadalla” refers to Allah granting monetary bounty/gift. Men received more than women in inheritance and women mostly did not work but were homemakers. Therefore, men, who have more wealth/lands through employment/ business/ inheritance are told to make sure they look after the financial needs of women. Women are, earlier in the surah, already instructed that their money is for them to keep and they have no obligation to spend it on their husbands (see verse 32).
I wonder how the translators came up with “strength” because if “fadalla” can refer to strength then it can refer to any other attribute just as well – intellect, beauty, stamina, and even negative qualifiers like stupidity.
Moving on to the second part, this ayah was revealed at one time as can be understood from the word “fa-salehaat” as referring to “so the righteous women” indicating continuation of the verse. The next part of the ayah reads as “so the righteous women are those who are obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah has guarded.” The word used for obedient is “qanitaat” which is often translated to mean “devoutly obedient to her husband” but it is not so. No where is obedience of a woman related to man in the verse and since the word “qanitaat” is used in conjunction with “saalihaat” (which means righteous, as in ‘on the right path of God’), “qanitaat” therefore should refer to women who are obedient to Allah. This makes sense because Allah continues to say, “… guarding in secret that which Allah has guarded” meaning remaining faithful in a relationship by guarding their chastity.
The last part of the ayah reads as:
and if you fear rebellion from the women, admonish them, and leave them alone in the sleeping-places and beat them; then if they obey you, do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great.
Many scholars/authors now argue that the word “adribhuna” (root word daraba) does not refer to beat them but means “leave them alone” that is to say, “walk away to cool off matters.” But, even if it does mean beat them there are conditions. Since the entire ayah addresses men to provide for women because they are financially stronger and states that good women are those who are righteous and faithful, the only conditions for leaving them alone or beating them would be if they ridicule Allah and refuse to walk on the Right Path, or if they indulge in adultery.
I don’t think a man has the right to beat his wife if she is disobedient towards him. Obedience to husbands is not even addressed in this verse which is often imposed by scholars who discuss this ayah in conjunction with the hadith that supposedly claims that the Prophet (pbuh) would have commanded women to prostrate before their husbands if that was allowed (read here for the commentary with hadith). Disobedience, rudeness, and dislike are very subjective terms. Rude to me may not be rude to you and allowing men who are not all the same to beat their wives if the wives act as if they are above their husbands, disobey them, ignore them, dislike them, would have been unjust (Note how Ibn Katheer writes, when these signs appear in a woman as if she is possessed or diseased). Such acts do not merit a beating even with a toothbrush! That is humiliating and embarrassing. Let us remember that the prophet (pbuh) never beat any of his wives/female slaves. He didn’t touch Aisha (pbuh) even when people doubted her chastity and Muhammed (pbuh) was himself suspicious for a while.
Posted by Achelois 
