His Eminence, the late Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah (ra) commented on the news of the domestic violence that was endured for 28 years on Samia, a woman who sought refuge with KAFA (a women's rights organization). His response highlighted that Islam condemns violence against women and grants them the right to self-defense.
Some women in our societies still suffer from various forms of violence, and they are still looked at inferiorly and negatively, despite the elevated status the woman enjoyed in Islam, as well as her competency and efficiency in working side by side with man and even surpassing him in various fields…
The issue of the woman, giving her rights, and elevating her status in all the societies are in need for an honest humanitarian stand that calls for getting rid of all the forms of violence exercised against her.
In the same context, His Eminence, the late Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah (ra), considers that the violence exercised against women is un-Islamic and those who exercise violence against them are sinners and wrongdoers. He also considered that the woman has the right to defend herself and her rights both physically and morally. His Eminence (ra) says: “Islam did not allow man to exercise any form of violence against the woman, whether with regards to the legitimate rights she attains through the marriage contract or to getting her out of the house, or even by throwing bad words, swearing or curses at her, which represents a sin that the Islamic law punishes its committer."
If man exercises physical violence against the woman and she could not defend herself except by hitting him back, then this is permissible, as part of self defense. Moreover, if the husband exercises the violence of denying the woman her marital rights, such as alimony (funding) and sex, she can automatically deprive him of the rights she committed herself to in the marriage contract.
[A juristic statement on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 27/11/2007 A.D., 17/11/1428]
As for the hitting that Islam deemed permissible for man, it can be resorted to only to tackle the issue of the wife’s desertion. His Eminence (ra) says: “the only point Allah referred to in this context is if the wife deprives her husband of his right to sexual relations, for Allah says: “But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them [lightly]." An-Nisa(04:34). In this sense, admonishing them comes in first, and then comes refusal to share their beds and lastly comes the beating part that should be light and does not leave a mark or fracture a bone; i.e. light and gentle disciplinary beating that burdens the women’s psyche and does not harm her body.
[Man and life, p: 139]
Translated by: Manal Samhat
His Eminence, the late Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah (ra) commented on the news of the domestic violence that was endured for 28 years on Samia, a woman who sought refuge with KAFA (a women's rights organization). His response highlighted that Islam condemns violence against women and grants them the right to self-defense.
Some women in our societies still suffer from various forms of violence, and they are still looked at inferiorly and negatively, despite the elevated status the woman enjoyed in Islam, as well as her competency and efficiency in working side by side with man and even surpassing him in various fields…
The issue of the woman, giving her rights, and elevating her status in all the societies are in need for an honest humanitarian stand that calls for getting rid of all the forms of violence exercised against her.
In the same context, His Eminence, the late Religious Authority, Sayyed Muhammad Hussein Fadlullah (ra), considers that the violence exercised against women is un-Islamic and those who exercise violence against them are sinners and wrongdoers. He also considered that the woman has the right to defend herself and her rights both physically and morally. His Eminence (ra) says: “Islam did not allow man to exercise any form of violence against the woman, whether with regards to the legitimate rights she attains through the marriage contract or to getting her out of the house, or even by throwing bad words, swearing or curses at her, which represents a sin that the Islamic law punishes its committer."
If man exercises physical violence against the woman and she could not defend herself except by hitting him back, then this is permissible, as part of self defense. Moreover, if the husband exercises the violence of denying the woman her marital rights, such as alimony (funding) and sex, she can automatically deprive him of the rights she committed herself to in the marriage contract.
[A juristic statement on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 27/11/2007 A.D., 17/11/1428]
As for the hitting that Islam deemed permissible for man, it can be resorted to only to tackle the issue of the wife’s desertion. His Eminence (ra) says: “the only point Allah referred to in this context is if the wife deprives her husband of his right to sexual relations, for Allah says: “But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them [lightly]." An-Nisa(04:34). In this sense, admonishing them comes in first, and then comes refusal to share their beds and lastly comes the beating part that should be light and does not leave a mark or fracture a bone; i.e. light and gentle disciplinary beating that burdens the women’s psyche and does not harm her body.
[Man and life, p: 139]
Translated by: Manal Samhat