Wife beating in the Muslim mindset

I read a singular interesting debate over on One Man’s Blog which I do not frequent but found by accident through a series of clicks. Does anyone identify with me here? I can get so lost in Internet Land by following links that I forget what my original quest was all about. Well, this morning, I did not forget. The subject is Wife Beating. I saw a video on YouTube in which two men were discussing the proper etiquette for beating one’s wife. It sickened me so I’m not putting up a link to it. You can find it easily by Googling wife beating.

The debate which I have linked depicts the seduction Satan has over Muslims. I do not know if Lalla is a man or a woman, although one reference seems to indicate female gender. The point of discussion was whether Islam allows wife beating as a form of chastisement and discipline within marriage. After reading this debate, I have come to understand that I do not understand the Islam mindset or Islam religion. Someone in the debate admonishes us to not gauge the religion by what Muslims say/do, but to read the Qur’an  in its original language in order to get the full, proper meaning.

Just as we Christians preach context, context, and we study hundreds of commentaries, the Greek and Hebrew languages so that we get a proper understanding, and we are constantly saying not to judge Christianity by the plumbline of Believers but of the True Plumbline of Jesus Christ, it would seem the followers of Allah have the same mindset.

I have not studied the Qur’an. I have seen what Muslims can do in the fanatical state of the Taliban. I understand that Christians have done some bloody things in the name of Jesus, too. Things like the Inquisition come to mind. There are many who say, well those who were oppressing the humble back during the Inquisition were not Christian at all. I agree. While none of the Muslims who participated in this debate ever said that Muslim wife beaters were not true believers, they did imply that wife-beating Muslims did not understand the proper reading of the Qur’an. That the word in Arabic Daraba would properly be translated as to “set a clear example” in the verse that triggered the discussion Surah 4:34.

Also, these Allah followers insist that the Qur’an does not “allow” wife beating, but “limits” it. Really? Jesus told the Sons of Thunder, “He who is not against Me is for Me.” That is exactly what is happening here. When something is not forbidden, but limited then that something is being allowed. Period.

Can you see the subtlety here? The implication that is trying to be made is that wife beating is not allowed, not that it is forbidden. The problem with that is the accepting of sin and limiting of sin. God tells us the things that are forbidden, that are sinful both in exactitude as well as in implication. God points out the actions of man against man is the lack of love for man. God commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves. To disobey this command is to sin.

To treat another person in such a way that one would never treat himself is a sin. Regardless of any limits. God never put a limit of conduct on murder, or stealing, or rape, or incest. Because domestic violence is prevalent around the world, are we to take it as a normal happenstance? No, we are not. It isn’t just the wife that is being harmed here. It is the children who are being taught a way of life that is not normal and is wrong in the eyes of God and mankind.

Paul wrote to Timothy that the last days will be filled with self-indulgent humans whose love for mankind goes ever colder. If we Christians do not turn the fire up, we will be sucked into that cold and we’ll never hear those coveted words, “Well done My good and faithful servant.”