Islam and domestic violence

This article is about Islam and domestic violence. For other related topics, see Outline of domestic violence.

The relationship between Islam and domestic violence is disputed. Even among Muslims, the uses and interpretations of shari’a, the moral code and religious law of Islam, lack consensus.

Conservative interpretations of Surah, An-Nisa, 34 in the Qur'an regarding marital relationships find that hitting a woman is allowed. Broader interpretation of the term does not support hitting a woman, but separating or leaving himself from her. Variations in interpretation are due to different schools of Islamic jurisprudence, histories and politics of religious institutions, conversions, reforms, and education.

Domestic violence among the Muslim community is considered a complicated humans right issue due to varying legal remedies for women by nation, the extent to which they have support or opportunities to divorce their husbands, cultural stigma to hide evidence of abuse, and inability to have abuse recognized by police or the judicial system.

In conservative communities, Muslim women are often considered inferior to their husbands, possibly controlled or oppressed, and lacking opportunities that would give them their own personal sense of identity, all of which adds to the complicated nature of unearthing and obtaining remedies for domestic violence.

The best solutions for stemming the tide of domestic violence is through national and international laws and human rights pressure, addressing the ability for women's rights to be asserted and offending men to be prosecuted.

Definition of Domestic Violence

Main article: Domestic violence

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary definition, domestic violence is: "the inflicting of physical injury by one family or household member on another; also: a repeated or habitual pattern of such behavior."

Coomarswamy defines domestic violence as "violence that occurs within the private sphere, generally between individuals who are related through intimacy, blood or law…[It is] nearly always a gender-specific crime, perpetrated by men against women." It used is as a strong form of control and oppression.

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, declared in a 2006 report posted on the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) website that:

Violence against women and girls is a problem of pandemic proportions. At least one out of every three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime with the abuser usually someone known to her.

Woman in Islam

Main articles: Women in Islam and Gender roles in Islam

Indonesian women wearing hijab

Two Afghan women wearing chadris, a form of burqa.

The late Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister of Pakistan was the first woman elected to lead a Muslim state.

The second largest world religion, behind Christianity, Islam is one of the world's fastest growing religions and overall, it preaches peace and charity. Of their holy duties, Muslims pray five times a day.

Clothing

Many Muslim women are required to wear a veil, hijab or burqa. The rules vary significantly by nation, from strict modesty observance to lax rules about being covered. Karin Ask and Marit Tjomsland write that "the veil, for the colonizers but also in the vision of contemporary Western political culture, is the most visible marker or the 'otherness' and 'inferiority' of Islamic societies."

In the United States, some Muslim women find wearing a veil is empowering as a symbol of Islamic religion or culture. Subject to anti-Muslim sentiment, some women find wearing a veil or hijab is degrading. About 48% of Muslim women in the United States don't cover their hair, while 43% wear head scarves all of the time.

In Iran a woman who is unveiled in public could be fined or put in jail.

Degree of equality

In Woman’s Identity and the Qur’an, Barazangi interprets that the Qur’an says men and women are equals because "as Fazlur Rahman (Islamic scholar) asserts: 'Equality of the sexes is institute in the Qur’an (4:1, 7; 60:12; 49:10; 96:1-4) for a Muslim society to achieve Adl (justice) and Qist (fair play) (1996, 17)". Aisha Abd al-Rahman, a woman Koranic scholar, explains that Islam is not based around differences between men and women, so issues between the sexes should not be brought up for consideration.

Conservative interpretations of the Qur’an find men to be the physical and intellectual superiors of women, both ontologically, since woman is considered to have been created for his pleasure, and moral-social, with the "completeness of mental ability, good counsel, complete power in the performance of duties and the carrying out of (divine) commands." Conservatively, women are considered unfit for any work or activity because of her physiology and child-bearing ability. The women's role, then, is to oblige to be subjected to man, by which alone she can have any meaningful identity. Rather than derived from Qur’an’s teachings, this attitude comes from Muslim exegetes and Qur’an commentators, such as Tabari (d.923), Zamakhashari (d. 1144), Baydawi (d. 1286), al-Suyuti (d. 1505), based upon their personal perspective.

Asma Barlas, author of "Believing women in Islam,” asserts that as many recent studies reveal, women's status and roles in Muslim societies, as well as patriarchal structures and gender relationships, are a function of multiple factors, most of which have nothing to do with religion. She argues that the history of Western civilization should tell us that there is nothing innately Islamic about misogyny, inequality, or patriarchy; and yet, all three often are justified by Muslim states and clerics in the name of Islam. Camilla Fawzi El-Sohl and Judy Mabro also support this position, saying the status of Muslim women "solely in terms of the Qur’an and/or other Islamic sources [are] all too often taken out of context." Also, it is imperative to examine that a lot of inequality and discrimination derive not from the teachings of the Qur’an but from the secondary religious texts, the Tafsir (Qur’anic exegesis) and the Ahadith (s. hadith), which are narratives purportedly detailing the life and practices of the Prophet Muhammad.

Barazangi claims that “this capacity [rereadings and reinterpretations of Qu’ran] for moral and rational derivation of a meaning from the eternal words and the immediate acting on the derived meaning to change one’s behavior is what qualifies a human being as a Muslim by choice, that is, a self-identified Muslim,” believing that interpretation should be open to more than select elite males.

Qur'an An-Nisa

Main article: An-Nisa, 34

Surah An-Nisa, 34 passage on the social interaction between husbands and wives defines the husband and wife relationship in Islam, with interpretation subject to debate among Muslim scholars (or 'jurists').

Interpretations that support discipline

Conservative translations find that Muslim husbands are permitted to act what is known in Arabic as Idribuhunna with the use of "light force," and sometimes as much as to strike, hit, chastise, or beat.

In some exegesis such as those of Ibn Kathir and Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, the actions prescribed in 4:34 are to be taken in sequence: the husband is to admonish the wife, after which (if his previous correction was unsuccessful) he may remain separate from her, after which (if his previous correction was still unsuccessful) he may hit her or give her a light tapping. Contemporary Egyptian scholar Abd al-Halim Abu Shaqqa refers to the opinions of jurists Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani and al-Shawkani who state that hitting should only occur in extraordinary cases.

A translated passage by Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali and Muhsin Khan in 2007 defines men as the protectors, guardians and maintainers of women, because Allah has made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means. Upon seeing ill-conduct (i.e. disobedience, rebellion, nashuz in Arabic) by his wife, a man may admonish them (first), (next), refuse to share their beds, (and last) beat them (lightly, if it is useful), but if they return to obedience, seek not against them means.

Some Islamic scholars and commentators have emphasized that beatings, even where permitted, are not to be harsh or some even contend that they should be "more or less symbolic." According to Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Ibn Kathir, the consensus of Islamic scholars is that the above verse describes a light beating. Abu Shaqqa refers to the edict of Hanafi scholar al-Jassas (d. 981) who notes that the reprimand should be "A non-violent blow with siwak [a small stick used to clean the teeth] or similar. This means that to hit with any other means is legally [Islamically] forbidden."

Interpretation that does not support hitting

Indicating the subjective nature of the translations, particularly regarding domestic abuse, Ahmed Ali’s translation of the word Idribu is to forsake, to avoid, or to leave. His translation of verse 4:34 is: …As for women you feel are averse, talk to them cursively; then leave them alone in bed (without molesting them), and go to bed with them (when they are willing) (emphasis added).

Undesirablity of beating

Scholars and commentators have stated that Muhammad directed men not to hit their wives' faces, not to beat their wives in such a way as would leave marks on their body, and not to beat their wives as to cause pain (ghayr mubarrih). Scholars too have stipulated against beating or disfigurement, with others such as the Syrian jurist Ibn Abidin prescribing ta'zir punishments against abusive husbands.

Some jurists argue that even when beating is acceptable under the Qur'an, it is still discountenanced. Ibn Kathir in concluding his exegesis exhorts men to not beat their wives, quoting a hadith from Muhammad: "Do not hit God's servants" (here referring to women). The narration continues, stating that some while after the edict, "Umar complained to the Messenger of God that many women turned against their husbands. Muhammad gave his permission that the men could hit their wives in cases of rebelliousness. The women then turned to the wives of the Prophet and complained about their husbands. The Prophet said: 'Many women have turned to my family complaining about their husbands. Verily, these men are not among the best of you."

Muslim-majority countries.

According to Ahmad Shafaat, an Islamic scholar, "If the husband beats a wife without respecting the limits set down by the Qur'an and Hadith, then she can take him to court and if ruled in favor has the right to apply the law of retaliation and beat the husband as he beat her." However, laws against domestic violence, as well as whether these laws are enforced, vary throughout the Muslim world.

Reflections: religious and cultural influences

It is important to understand that such violence is not part of the religion, but rather more of a cultural aspect. There is no authority in the Qur’an for the type of regular and frequent acts of violence that women experience from their abusive husbands. Furthermore, the contradicting actions of many Muslim husbands that lacks the expected level of control in two elements from the verse, admonishment and separation. The separation dictates not only the physical separation, but also abstinence from marital sex.

Muhammad condemns violence against women as he says: "How loathsome (Ajeeb) it is that one of you should hit his wife as a slave is hit, and then sleep with her at the end of the day."

Victim support programs

In Malaysia, the largest government-run hospital implemented a program to intervene in cases where domestic violence seems possible. The woman is brought to a room to meet with a counselor who works with the patient to determine if the woman is in danger and should be transferred to a shelter for safety. If the woman does not wish to go to the shelter, she is encouraged to see a social worker and file a police report. If the injury is very serious, investigations begin immediately.

Divorce

See also: Divorce (Islamic)

Though some Muslim scholars, such as Ahmad Shafaat, contend that Islam permits women to be divorced in cases of domestic violence. divorce may be unavailable to women as a practical or legal matter.

The Qur’an states: (2:231) And when you have divorced women and they have fulfilled the term of their prescribed period, either take them back on reasonable basis or set them free on reasonable basis. But do not take them back to hurt them, and whoever does that, then he has wronged himself. And treat not the Verses of Allah as a jest, but remember Allah’s Favours on you, and that which He has sent down to you of the Book and Al-Hikmah [the Prophet’s Sunnah, legal ways, Islamic jurisprudence] whereby He instructs you. And fear Allah, and know that Allah is All-Aware of everything.

Although Islam permits women to divorce for domestic violence, they are subject to the laws of their nation which might make it quite difficult for a woman to obtain a divorce.

Most women's rights activists concede that while divorce can provide potential relief, it does not constitute an adequate protection or even an option for many women, with discouraging factors such as lack of resources or support to establish alternative domestic arrangements and social expectations and pressures.

Solution

Lisa Hajjar in her article “Religion, State Power, and Domestic Violence in Muslim Societies: A Framework for Comparative Analysis” states that the use of shari’a as the legal framework for administering Muslims’ family relations (marriage, divorce, custody and inheritance) constitutes an important consideration as it functions both as specific legal rules and as a general religio-cultural framework for Islamic norms and values. Therefore, efforts to implement law reforms to enhance the rights and protection of women within the family are bound up in contestations over the role and the jurisprudence of religious law, and social acceptance of reforms is contingent on their perceived compatibility with religious beliefs. So in order to ascertain the practicing of protecting women’s rights across various countries, she proposes to ask a series of questions. Has the state signed and ratified the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and if so, is this authority used effectively to prohibit and punish domestic violence? Are there national laws and/or administrative sanctions prohibiting domestic violence? What measures, if any, has the state taken or authorized to deal with domestic violence and the protection of victims (e.g., provision of social services and health care, education campaign)? On the other hand, Barazangi argues that before taking specific actions to improve the women’s rights in Islamic countries, women’s involvement in decision making (that is, participating in the interpretation of the Qur’an as well as in discussing the human rights documents) is critically needed in many Muslim communities and societies, and second, self-identification with the Qur’an offers a way to eliminate the secondary status of women because it is based on defining the issues from within. She furthermore asserts that the attempt to transplant Western secular systems of education and Western feminists’ views into Muslim communities and societies through the academic institutionalization of the study of Muslim women ignores the spiritual and intellectual worldview of the people who identify with the Qur’an and will not lead to lasting “solutions” to the problem of the secondary status of women.

See also

Islamic related articles

• AHA Foundation, non-profit for women's rights in western countries
• Gender roles in Islam
• Glossary of Islam
• Honor killing
• Islamic feminism
• Submission, a film by Theo van Gogh and Ayaan Hirsi Ali about Islam and domestic violence
• Peaceful Families Project, Muslim organization
• Taliban treatment of women
• Women and Islam

Journal

• International Journal for the Psychology of Religion

Other:

• Christianity and domestic violence
• Domestic violence
• Violence against women
• Women's rights

(See also External links below)

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

• Roald, Anne S. (2001). Women in Islam: The Western Experience. Routledge. ISBN 0415248965. 
• Suad Joseph, Afsaneh Najmabadi, ed. Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures. Brill Academic Publishers. ISBN 9004128190. 

Further reading

• "Women and Violence." Welcome to the United Nations: It's Your World. United Nations Department of Public Information, Feb. 1996. Web. 07 Dec. 2011.</ref>

External links

• Muslim Power and Control Wheel
• FaithTrust Institute (formerly Center for the Prevention of Sexual and Domestic Violence), a multifaith, multicultural training and education organization in the United States with global reach working to end sexual and domestic violence.
• QuranicPath | Collection of 4:34 Translations which do not use "beat/scourge/hit" (violence)

Articles

• Rania al-Baz interview shortly after the beating (Youtube)
• Dishonored killings
• For Some Muslim Wives, Abuse Knows No Borders, Washington Post
• ‘In the Book We Have Left Out Nothing’: The Ethical Problem of the Existence of Verse 4:34 in the Qur’an" by Laury Silvers