I guess wife-beating is the subject-matter, which in itself is a highly beaten subject.

Some people quote the religious authority to beat their wife or wives. Some say the situation has changed enormously and no more can anyone beat his wife. 

As a weather-beaten person myself (you could read wife-beaten but it would be unfair to me wife, being a lie) I find difficult to accept any of these stereotyped views, and I take a position which almost accidentally coincides with what has been stated in the Quran. This is one among the many similar reasons that makes the Quran holy for me.  Believe me it is not a fake-talk or leg⋅er⋅de⋅main, but the result of my weather-beaten-ness.

Quran gives permission for the man to beat his wife.  A legitimate question does arise, why was a similar permission not given to the wife? My hunch is, because such permission is not needed for the wife to beat her husband. Okay this lighter side statement was made with the serious purpose of drawing attention to the exceptional nature of husband-wife relationship. 

Tell me one thing honestly; if a husband is beating his wife, will the wife stay quiet like a cow. She can certainly and most probably will, if man exceeds his limit (defined by the overall relationship between the two) and if luck permits, bite his arms.  And I assure everyone that if by any chance, for reason of wife being stronger or situationally better placed (her hand can reach him and his hand cannot reach her), she takes the initiative, then the husband will do the same thing. Perfect equality! 

Quran has however raised a clear bar for the man (physically stronger of the two, generally), not to beat his wife beyond the point that is absolutely necessary to show his resentment.  In a retaliatory fit of anger, I am sure a Muslim woman can bite his back, and I am further sure that Islamic Sharia will not punish her, except permitting a hearty laugh to the men-folk. 

When the allergic critics of Islam set out to examine a provision made by Quran, they somehow leave their common sense behind. Gentlemen and ladies, ask a lawyer, if this be not the law to govern relationship between wife and husband, most husband and wife will end up in courts for the crime of inflicting simple hurt on each other. Luckily the British jurists had the good sense of accepting this principle of Islam by making permissible such spanking or paddling within a family fold.

Since Islam already prohibits the use of liquor, high-handedness on the part of men is ruled out to a large extent. The reference to my weather-beaten-ness was only to inform my readers that I have come across with thousands of cases of wife-beating by drunkard husbands, only to hear both from the husband and the wife next morning, the story of falling in bathrooms to explain their black eyes. I do not remember if any one of them was a Muslim couple. Possibly the same will be the outcome in the case of Muslim couple, but I think Muslims must work hard to reduce drunkenness amongst Muslims as ordained by Allah.

About gender equality issue, I have expressed my ideas through a poem ‘woman - thou art not frail’, which is available on this website and which I think is rooted in the soil of Islam.

I do not know about the views of Islamic clerics which can vary from one school of thought to another, but I think there is no question of pushing women back to Burqas.  Who the hell could push my wife into Burqa - certainly not me! But it so happened, that one day, she ordered one Burqa for herself which she has been wearing now though she never did wear a Burqa in her life before. Believe me friends, I had to intercede with her to not cover her face, and I cited to her scriptural authority (after doing a little bit of research, which included referring to hadith, to keep on the safe side) that it was entirely her discretion whether she wanted to cover her face or not, and so she should choose the option that suits her husband. She obliged. Actually she wears her Burqa as a kind of dress in which she finds comfort level high, because I do not find her observing strict classical parda when someone visits us. I have mentioned this personal angle to give authenticity to the story, but more importantly to convey the principle that this Burqa thing may not un-suit all women uniformly, and so the moral of the story is that Burqa-burning may itself be immoral.

Then there is celebration of girls or women breaking free of so many moulds and all that. As far as I am concerned any girl or woman is free to walk away from Islam, but if her walking away from Islam is to run away with a man, then she is going for a bad bargain, unless she turns out to be an exception. If she wants me to give proof of it, what proof can one possibly give to a love-smitten?  Only time will teach such runners-up something about rational sense. As the world (third world to be precise, first world has already faced it) progresses from poverty to opulence, of the many social issues, this running away business is going to take its largest emotional toll. When a girl runs away, she repays the debt of the family with the cruelest currency. And one doesn’t have to be a Muslim, to receive this repayment.

Manzurul Haque

There has been some mismatch between the comments and the text of the Article. Please correct.

Mr.Rizvi, it is not that the fundamentalists have better arguments for the young people, but that the progressive Muslims have not seriously framed their arguments, so that the young are exposed to only one point of view. The young would understand that Sharia laws are designed to be consonant with the ethos of the times and the place. The fundamental Quranic principles on which these laws are based, however, are eternal and immutable. These principles are equality, fairness, justice, human dignity and common sense.

Good things have been written on how we should read and interpret the Quran by Ziauddin Sardar, Chandra Muzaffar and Asghar Ali Engineer.

In his 11/18/09 note Mr. Ghulam Mohiyuddin also made a comment that “the liberals, moderates and progressives need to come together, organize and enunciate a clear manifesto.”

 Whereas I fully agree with Ghulam Saheb’s views, I have my reservations regarding its implementation when it comes to changing the hearts and minds of our young people. It is this faculty where the fundamentalists have been very successful, and, which forms the source of their strength.

 I say this because the fundamentalists have a trump card of “Shraia in its purest form.”  What we have is Sharia’s interpretation of which there can be many. This puts us on a slippery slope. The only way out of this dilemma would be to instill among our young people the value of critical thinking and let the chip fall where it may.  This kind of incentive is more likely to come from the outside rather than from within the community.

And, since the topic of this section relates to the equality of men and women, I would like to close my comment with the following passage from the page 60 of Tariq Ali’s book “The Clash of Fundamentalisms.”

 “Men have the authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them.  Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them, forsake them in bed apart, and beat them.  Then, if they obey you, take no further actions then. Surely, Allah is all-knowing and wise.  (Quran 4.34)

It is encouraging to see that when it comes to wife-beating, even the fundamentalists are shying away from taking the words literally.  I heard one Aalim saying that you take a copy of a newspaper, fold it and hit your wife with it - very gently.  Another one, probably more enlightened one, said that the word “beating” should be taken in the same context as used in everyday conversation where we say “you beat me on this” or “I beat you on that.”  

At least we are making some headway toward a more progressive Islam.