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| Beating Women Or Beating
Around the Bush, Or... 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, and 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 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 command 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 commits 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 traditionally 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. |