[Arabesque]

Originally Posted by Variable

Such foul language, may your future husband deal with you swiftly.

Woot? I said p.r.i.c.k! Is that a bad word? Excuse me, I am unaware of any indecent meanings ascribed to the word Blame it on my English.

Anyway you know, I don't really know how many men actually use this to justify beating their wives. What makes me uncomfortable is the fact that it's there at all. Even moreso, how many guys defend it as their right with such gusto.

Like I said, people (both men and women) will defend many things they don't necessarily want to practice, such as polygyny. Most men would not want to have more than one wife (Aryan may be an exception, I guess ) and most women would not want to share their husbands. Yet most of them will defend the verse and will also tell you of the "wisdom" behind it. It may be controversial, but if Allah (swt) stresses in various chapter the need to obey Him and to obey His prophet (sAaw) and to follow the example of the latter, then I don't see how anyone could confuse that, or even use the word of Allah to justify illicit practices.

And I will say this again. Those who contemplate the meaning of the Qur'an aren't the same ones who abuse their spouses.

It's more of a personal matter for me, one that would probably prevent me from accepting Islam as my own belief if I was ever inclined to do so. People have asked me "how could such a small, insignificant point stop you from accepting Islam?" - I don't think permission to hit my wife is a small matter, and I don't think it's something God would say to me through a guy who lived in Arabia 1400 years ago.

Dude, Islam is obviously not for everyone. Islam is for those whose hearts were opened to it. If you don't feel yours is, or ever would, then you're more than welcome It all comes down to how you want to understand and take in the meanings of the Qur'an. If you read it as a "permission" to hit your wife, then I wouldn't be surprised if some Muslims took it the same way, too.

I also don't think that most practicing Muslim men would do this to their wives, nor do I think they're silly for following a religion that I personally don't believe in. But I hear people say things like 'the Prophet never struck his wife', or 'the problem is savage Westerners' - and I feel like I should say something.

By all means .. you're free to say what you want, and I'm sure that as long as you don't use offensive language, I'm sure nobody's going to object to what you say. And I must say, you've always been respectful.

But then again, I must stress the need to speak with knowledge. I don't expect you to revere the Prophet the same way we do, but in order to understand why we do hold him in high esteem, you'll need to learn more about him ... within the historical context of his time, not our time. It's just like reading about David, Solomon or Moses ... read, within the historical context to appreciate. Otherwise their stories would be meaningless.