Wife Beating in Islamic Law: Re-Evaluating the Illocutionary Force of the Imperative Verb in Qur’an 4:34

David Solomon Jalajel and Toseef Azid

Chapter 27 in Economic Empowerment of Women in the Islamic World:Theory and Practice, 2020, pp 579-594 from World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd.

Abstract: Verse 4:34 is the primary source of evidence cited in Islamic legal literature to permit wife beating. The injunction wa-ḍribūhunna (literally: “and hit them”) is seen as giving the husband permission to hit his wife in response to her rebellion. The necessity of this interpretation has been challenged by contemporary thinkers who argue that the interpretive community’s biases precluded other interpretive possibilities. Attention has been given to interpreting the verb in question, ḍaraba, to mean something other than “to hit”. Problems have arisen with this approach, since the interpretations suggested have required the use of dependent prepositions before the object of the verb which are absent in the verse. However, classical Islamic legal scholars have recognized that the imperative verb tense has a wide range of senses, listing several possibilities which are determined by context, some of which are far removed from the issuing of commands. Evaluating the function of the verb from this angle allows for a viable, robust interpretation of the verse that disallows wife beating while remaining faithful to classical interpretive methods. As a result, it can be argued that the insistence of classical scholars on asserting the husband’s right to beat the wife is a result of cultural perspectives limiting interpretive possibilities.

Keywords: Islam; Gender Studies; Women Studies; Quran; Sunnah; Female Empowerment; Shariah; Prophet Muhammad; Business in Islam; Patriarchal Fundamentalism; Secular Feminism; Women's Rights; Human Rights; Aceh; Gender Empowerment Measure; Globalization; Press Freedom; Organisation of Islamic Cooperation; Education; Arab World; Nanofinance; Microfinance; Labour; Ottoman Empire; Iran; Waqaf; Waqf; Malaysia; Pakistan; Singapore; Dual-Income Households; Bangladesh; Food Security; Human Capital; Saudi Arabia; Turkey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A13 A14 J16 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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