Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
I wasn't sure whether to laugh or rant a couple of days ago when I read a headline in the newspaper that read wife-slapping 'Okay' and told of a judge in Saudi Arabia who had claimed it was acceptable to slap your wife if she spent too much money, giving as an example the purchase of a pricey abaya.
He was quoted as saying: "If a person gives 1,200 riyals to his wife and she spends 900 riyals to purchase an abaya from a brand shop, and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment".
Sadly, I wasn't all that surprised that such a comment had been made but what did surprise me is that the man didn't hide behind Islam to justify his words.
It's a popular misconception among non-Muslims that the Quran says it's OK to beat your wife.
While it's an ignorant misconception to make, I can sort of see where the misunderstanding comes from but what's more shocking is that there are some Muslims I've spoken to over the years that have also interpreted the words written in the Quran to mean the same thing.
What it actually says is:
"Men are the protectors and maintainers of women, because Allah has made one of them to excel the other, and because they spend (to support them) from their means.
Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient (to Allah and to their husbands), and guard in the husband's absence what Allah orders them to guard (e.g. their chastity, their husband's property, etc). As to those women on whose part you see ill conduct, 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 (of annoyance). Surely, Allah is Ever Most High, Most Great." (Surah An-Nisaa' [The Women] 4:34)
Nowhere does it say it is acceptable to beat a woman any time you're not happy with her behaviour and it's worth mentioning that since the verse has been translated for the purest form of Arabic there are words that can easily be misunderstood.
'Beat' for example gives the impression of severe violence but there are many who have interpreted to mean a light slap that does not leave a mark.
'Ill conduct' implies anything you don't like but again, there are many who interpret it as meaning only much more serious wrong doing for which I might add, overspending on an abaya isn't included!
At the end of the day, the Prophet Muhammad himself was never known to have beaten wife, servants or even animals so it's pretty obvious to see that random beating for no good reason where never part of his teachings.
There isn't enough space this week for me to go into any real detail about violence against women but now the seed is planted, I can see an article coming on ... and for any of you men out there who would never admit it to anyone, I have plenty to say on the subject of women beating men too, so your plight will not be ignored.
In the meantime, I think someone should give the Saudi judge a pretty little sucker-punch and knock him flat on his obviously over-inflated backside!
