Microsoft Word Marriage Guide doc

Corporal Punishment.
The Prophet (P.B.U.H) did not forbid a man from giving 
instructions to his wife, as long as these were in accordance with Islam, or from giving his 
wife some form of physical discipline-even though he himself never struck any of his wives. 
However, this did not mean that a husband was allowed to beat his wife for things like 
burning the dinner, or forgetting something she should have done, or simply because he 
was in a foul mood! 
There is only one Qur'anic verse that grants husbands permission, and it states 
that this is only in cases where they genuinely fear nushuz ('rebellion,' which in this 
context means treating the husband with arrogance and refusing the marital bed as a 
permanent principle, not just the odd occasion when the woman might have been ill). 
'Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, through that in which Allah 
has given one more than the other, and because they support them from their means. 
Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, and guard in absence what Allah 
would have them guard. As to those women on whose part you fear rejection, (first) 
admonish them, (next) refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them; but if they 
return to obedience then do not seek against them any (further) means.' (4:34) 
The Prophet referred to this verse in his Final Sermon. He said: 
'Hear me well! Treat your women kindly, for they resemble prisoners in your 
hands... if they are guilty of flagrant misbehaviour, you may remove them from your 
beds, or beat them, but do not inflict upon them any severe punishment! Then, if they 
obey you, do not seek against them any (further) means. Hear me well! You have your 
rights over your wives, and they have their rights over you!' 
The idea of punching or beating up a woman was totally repugnant to the 
Blessed Prophet, and belonged to the attitude towards women shown in the time of 
jahiliya, or of societies where the consumption of alcohol was widespread. The hadiths 
tell us that he laughingly suggested that if a husband was obliged to spank his wife, he 
The Muslim Marriage Guide: Ruqaiyyah Waris Maqsood

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