Quran 4:34 includes the word "strike them" about wives. Critics say this means Islam permits husbands to beat their wives.
Men are in charge of women by [right of] what Allah has given one over the other and what they spend [for maintenance] from their wealth. So righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [the husband's] absence what Allah would have them guard. But those [wives] from whom you fear arrogance - [first] advise them; [then if they persist], forsake them in bed; and [finally], strike them [lightly]. But if they obey you [once more], seek no means against them. Indeed, Allah is ever Exalted and Grand.Quran 4:34, Sahih International
And if you fear dissension between the two, send an arbitrator from his people and an arbitrator from her people. If they both desire reconciliation, Allah will cause it between them. Indeed, Allah is ever Knowing and Aware.Quran 4:35, Sahih International
In short, the classical scholars understood this as a light, symbolic tap, of the kind made with a siwak, that must cause no injury, and permitted it only as a last resort after the earlier steps.
The verse deals with nushuz, serious misconduct by a wife that threatens the marriage, not ordinary disagreement. It sets out steps in order: advice, then separating beds, and only then the last step. The next verse (Quran 4:35) then calls for an arbitrator from each family. Yaqeen Institute's researchers describe the sequence as a way of forcing a husband to cool down rather than act in anger. The Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) then limited the last step further, as the reports below show.
“Fear Allah concerning women! Verily you have taken them on the security of Allah ... But if they do that, you can chastise them but not severely.”Sahih Muslim 1218, grading: Sahih (in Sahih Muslim). English translation as given on sunnah.com
“That you should give her food when you eat, clothe her when you clothe yourself, do not strike her on the face, do not revile her or separate yourself from her except in the house.”Sunan Abi Dawud 2142, grading: Hasan Sahih (Al-Albani). English translation as given on sunnah.com
“None of you should flog his wife as he flogs a slave and then have sexual intercourse with her in the last part of the day.”Sahih al-Bukhari 5204, grading: Sahih (in Sahih al-Bukhari). English translation as given on sunnah.com
“Many women have gone round Muhammad's family complaining against their husbands. They (those husbands who take to beating their wives) are not the best among you.”Sunan Abi Dawud 2146, grading: Sahih (Al-Albani). English translation as given on sunnah.com
Ibn Kathir records that Ibn Abbas and several others explained the verse as a strike that is not violent, and al-Hasan al-Basri as one that is not severe. Ibn Abbas is reported to have said it should be done with a siwak, a small twig used to clean the teeth, which cannot cause pain. The early Meccan jurist Ata ibn Abi Rabah went further and said: "A man does not hit his wife. He simply expresses that he is upset with her." Yaqeen Institute's paper concludes that injuring a spouse, physically or emotionally, is prohibited. Classical jurists did read the verse as allowing a light, symbolic gesture as a last resort, and they held a husband liable for any harm.
“'A'isha reported that Allah's Messenger never beat anyone with his hand, neither a woman nor a servant, but only, in the case when he had been fighting in the cause of Allah”Sahih Muslim 2328, grading: Sahih (in Sahih Muslim). English translation as given on sunnah.com
“The best of you is the best to his wives, and I am the best of you to my wives”Jami at-Tirmidhi 3895, grading: Sahih (Darussalam). English translation as given on sunnah.com
And of His signs is that He created for you from yourselves mates that you may find tranquility in them; and He placed between you affection and mercy. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.Quran 30:21, Sahih International
The Bible contains no verse telling a husband to strike his wife, and this page does not claim otherwise. The comparison concerns the broader charge that Islam places women under men.
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. But as the assembly is subject to Christ, so let the wives also be to their own husbands in everything.Ephesians 5:22, 24, World English Bible (public domain)
Let a woman learn in quietness with full submission. But I don’t permit a woman to teach, nor to exercise authority over a man, but to be in quietness.1 Timothy 2:11-12, World English Bible (public domain)
When men strive against each other, and the wife of one draws near to deliver her husband out of the hand of him who strikes him, and puts out her hand, and takes him by his private parts, then you shall cut off her hand. Your eye shall have no pity.Deuteronomy 25:11-12, World English Bible (public domain)
The New Testament tells wives to be subject to their husbands "in everything" and forbids women to teach or hold authority over men, and the Torah orders a wife's hand to be cut off in one case. Christians and Jews explain these passages through their context and their interpreters. Quran 4:34 deserves the same reading, through its context and through the Prophet's own explanation and example.
Quran quotations: Sahih International via quran.com. Hadith quotations: the English translations and gradings shown on sunnah.com. Bible quotations: World English Bible (public domain).