Misquoting Muhammad: The Challenge and Choices of Interpreting the Prophet's Legacy

by Jonathan A.C. Brown

During the question-and-answer period, this speaker too was asked how Muslims should make sense of what is sometimes simply referred to as ‘The Wife Beating Verse.’ He replied that, contrary to what is widely believed, the Shariah in no way condoned a husband striking his wife. He pointed out that the Arabic verb taken to mean ‘strike’ or ‘beat’ in the verse, daraba, had been incorrectly interpreted. God could not have intended this meaning because it would have contradicted the conduct of the Prophet, whom well-known Hadiths described as never having struck any of his wives in any way. Daraba was used in numerous other ways in the Qur’an, he continued, some much better suited for the verse. One usage of the word was also found in a Hadith in which the Prophet explains a rule about business partnerships by expounding a parable of passengers together in a boat. A careless person in the lower part of the boat starts to drill a hole in the hull so that he can access water without climbing above deck. The Prophet describes how the other passengers should ‘strike upon his hand’ to stop him.* As with these imperiled passengers, the young shaykh explained that the verb daraba in the Qur’anic verse is thus really an instruction for a husband ‘to do whatever is physically necessary to rectify the situation’ and save his wife from bringing about the demise of the marriage.