Bahraini Imam Jum'a Tawfiq Jum'a on Wife Beating in Islam

Following is an interview with Bahraini Imam Sheik Jum'a Tawfiq Jum'a, which aired on Bahrain TV on May 16, 2007.

Sheik Jum'a Tawfiz Jum'a: With regard to [wife] beating... The husband is not in a karate club or in a boxing club with his wife. In addition, the beatings must not cause broken bones, bleeding, or cuts, and must not leave marks. It is light beating, which makes the wife feel the extent of the anger or sorrow in this man's heart. Some people say that this beating is uncivilized. I say to them that since it appears in the Koran – beware of defying what appears in the Koran. Beatings are indispensable. Beatings are not restricted to wives. The Prophet Muhammad told us that a son... He said: "Teach your sons how to pray until the age of seven, and beat them until the age of ten, if they don't [pray]." What is the purpose of the beatings here? If it had no benefit, the Prophet Muhammad would not have mentioned it, because he speaks not of his own mind, and everything he says is a revelation. This appears in a hadith, which some might claim is unreliable and so on – although it is authentic – but what can be said when [it appears] in the Koran itself? The Koran is the book sent down by Allah, and falsehood does not come anywhere near it. In this book, Allah explained the guidelines of life to us all, and in it, he said: "and beat them."