A recent video by a Saudi Arabian therapist explaining how to properly beat a wife, the “proper” way, has recently gone viral. He explains that the wife should not be hit by a large stick, rather a siwak (a small wooden toothbrush). We won’t go into details, but you can watch the video, if you really feel like it.
There are hundreds of thousands of articles and videos out there by ignorant Muslim misogynists and Islamophobes that talk about how the Prophet (peace be upon him) treated women poorly. Usually they’re taken out of context, or of course, totally fabricated stories. The Prophet (pbuh) never hit women, and discouraged anyone to do so.
Here are six beautiful stories and quotes from or about the Prophet that make evident the esteem with which he viewed women.
1- “How does anyone of you beat his wife as he beats the stallion camel and then embrace (sleep with) her?” (Al-Bukhari, English Translation, vol. 8, Hadith 68, pp. 42-43)
2- Another hadith quotes the Prophet as saying, “Some (women) visited my family complaining about their husbands (beating them). These (husbands) are not the best of you.”
3- Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported, “The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said, “A believer must not hate (his wife) believing woman; if he dislikes one of her characteristics he will be pleased with another.” (Muslim)
4- “The believers who show the most perfect faith are those who have the best behavior, and the best of you are those who are the best to their wives.” (At-Tirmidhi)
5- A man asked Aisha (the prophet’s wife) “What did The Prophet do at home?” Hadrat Aisha said that he kept busy with housework. He patched his clothes, swept the house, milked the animals, and bought supplies for the house from the market. If his shoes were torn, he mended them himself. He tied the rope to the water bucket. He secured the camel, fed it and ground the flour with the slave.” (Bukhari)
6- In another hadith, the Prophet said “Do not beat the female servants of Allah.”
Um…
https://thesecularbrownie.com/2016/04/26/how-islam-disregards-sexual-consent-within-marriage/
You cherry picked a few good hadiths and ignored the many controversial ones.
let’s not forget the infamous quran 4:34
But okay… Muhammed was a feminist. Enjoy cherry picking
“Um…” you’re cherry picking an ayah disregarding all context and proper interpretations. Also I checked out your website–pretty much rubbish that is once again cherry picked and gross interpretations that don’t represent true or mainstream Islam. This article even acknowledges how there are ugly and misogynist “muslims” out there. So try again.
You obviously have issues understanding the main precepts of Islam (love, peace, mercy, forgiveness, justice), so it’s very easy for you (and ppl like misogynistic “muslims”) to twist Islam however you ppl would like. It’s easy to bend things around when you ignore the main structures 🙂
Gross interpretations? Cherry picked? Every time i quote text i give historical tafseer compilations on the matter and hadiths that complement it. Come on. Instead of name calling my claims twisting based on an agenda why don’t you point out what i twisted? It’s easier to accuse without real backing than with. So 4:34. In what context is that justifiable? Even so the entire surah is about womens role and place.
Islam is about peace and love if that’s how you embrace the scriptures and you embrace those beautiful segments of scriptures. Like the hadiths the writer pointed out are amazing and do reflect Muhammad good character
But the ones i point out even in context aren’t necessarily empowering to women.
So it’s wrong for me to call muhammed a misogynist as it’s wrong for you to call him non misogynist. He’s simply a man of his time. So this article makes the claims that he’s not a misogynist with no arguments against the scriptures used by the sheikhs/ Islam critics. What was fabricated? What’s the context? How could you possibly give any context to justify the hit her line in 4:34? What sceneriob justifies a husband hitting his wife?
Before accusing people of twisting things prove how they twist it. Very easy to call me one with a “racist agenda to twist Islam” without addressing my claims. I’ve never said anything racist because i target scriptures.
Before i quote verses to point out misogynistic elements of the text i look at 10 translations, and all the tafseers from throughout history.
If I’m using “gross” interpretations then you’re calling all the classic tafseers from all throughout Islamic history in different time periods gross and lies. And somehow your interpretation in a 21st century context is a correct one. And what that really is, is a form cognitive dissonance to justify your faith to yourself and reconcile it with other parts of your identity.
Anyways I’m not into comment threads. They get nothing done. You’re going to get up voted because this site probably attracts people who share your opinion. But before feeling good about your up voted comment, evaluate what I’m saying. My ideas. Don’t lump me together with Pamela geller because that’ll justify disregarding my claims in your head.
I mean no offense. Best of luck 🙂
You all do great work.
LOL I’m not name calling. I’m calling you out on your game, bc you and I both know it is one. Yes, cherry picked. Never called you racist (but yeah I did say there was twisting going on, whether by you or the “classics”). I have no qualms about calling those classical interpretations out, bc they definitely can be misogynistic. Or as you well put it a “product of their times.” The Prophet isn’t a misogynist seeing as he advocated for the proper treatment of women, never engaged in hitting women himself and told others not to, is known for loving women and feminine characteristics/ideals, and gave women rights unheard of for women (especially during that time period). Saying that surah is about calling out women’s “place” isn’t wholly correct; it includes a lot about men’s “place” as well if you want to put it that way. There are plenty of scholars, Muslim or not, who deny the beating women interpretation. Ppl (Muslim and non Muslim) also love to forget that things that are prescribed to men are also for women, so I don’t see how they conveniently want to say that (if we entertain the idea that hitting is the actual translation in that extreme, never likely to occur situation where hitting is “allowed” i.e. “lewd behavior”) hitting can occur to the wife in that situation but that wives can’t do the same to husbands who engage in the same “lewd behavior.”
Also, I don’t think it’s a 21st century interpretation; it’s a return to the original interpretations. Idk why ppl are so caught up in the “classics”. It doesn’t get more classic than the reality of what message the Qur’an actually delivers (peace, love, harmony (especially in the household), justice, etc.). Hitting does not and never will have any place in Islam outside of direct, person to person self defense from someone who clearly has it in for your life. (The punishments for certain sins are a whole other bag of worms that I won’t open here).
And hello, you’re not even allowed to hit children in Islam, let alone your freaking spouse. But ppl will continue to stretch.
Oh, also how could I forget the most important and obvious point about Islam that Muslims and non Muslims LOOOOOVE to forget: THERE IS NO COERCION IN ISLAM. (I don’t know the exact ayah’s, but a quick google can pull those verses up).
If a Muslim engages in force and coercion, that is ON THAT INDIVIDUAL or group. That is NOT Islam, bc there are literal, actual ayahs that underscore that you can’t force anyone to do anything. Because DUH it’s meaningless if you’re doing it for a human and not for God’s sake. So the classical yuppies can go brush up on those parts of the Qur’an before they try to assert their idiotic, misogynistic agendas.
A group/movement is defined by what it does.
You are the perfect example for the true scottsman fallacy.
Women as Standards for Believers to Follow
[Qur’an 66:12-13] “And Allah sets forth for those who believe the example of the wife of Pharaoh when she said, ‘My Lord! build for me a house with Thee in the Garden; and deliver me from Pharaoh and his work, and deliver me from the wrongdoing people;’
And the example of Mary, the daughter of ‘Imran, who guarded her private parts — so We breathed into him of Our Spirit — and she fulfilled in her person the words of her Lord and His Books and was one of the obedient.”