Questions & Anwers About Islam
Feel free to share us

Can you be more specific on corporal punishment?

0 votes
1,267 views
You say you are subject to corporal punishment @ age 17 calling this "beaten". Does your father beat you with his fist? Can you be more specific as to what you mean by corporal punishment?
asked Aug 23, 2012 in Islam by anonymous (6,010 points)
First of all it has to be realized that in Islam the use of corporal punishment is a last resort. A husband is expected to admonish his wife first for any disobedence or disrespect. In the vast majority of cases a wife properly raised in the wisdom of the prophet will correct her behavior. But if correction is needed, typically the wife is sent to the bedroom and stripped naked. Then she is punished with either a small whip, a strap or belt on the buttocks. Spanking with the hand is not generally done. In some cases an unmarried women may be punished this way by her father or brother, but only for the worst offenses.
So you are saying, even a grown sister (sibling) may be stripped and punished with a belt by her brother? Why stripped, especially in the case of her modesty?
A women's modesty outside the home is central in Islam but in the family this rule is much relaxed. A women in islam has no expectation of modesty when she is being punished. Brothers punishing sisters is very rare but it does happen in cases when the family's honor has been damaged. On the other hand a father or husband can punish a daughter/wife for many reasons, though in the case of a husband he has an obligation to make physical punishment an absolute last resort. Physical punishment must be avoided if at all possible. An obedient wife should never fear she will spanked and a Muslum husband must never spank an obedient wife.
so the original question here was a father administering CP to his son at age 17. What is the commonality of that scenario ?
Sons are not generally subject to corporal punishment after age 10 or so, some say 13. But a daughter is subject to spankings from her father as long as she is not married. After marriage she may be spanked by her husband as his discretion.
thank you for your insightful answers. Are you a practicing Muslim, or just knowledgeable about their way of life?
I was on an interfaith board of directors and I became friends with a Moslim inman and his family. I am a Christian. I found out we both used corporal punishment to correct our wives. I also found out he rarely ever had to spank his wife while my wife needed to be spanked quite a bit more, which he found  quite amusing. We talked about a lot of things but we discussed this aspect of our marriages in great detail as time went on and we got more comfortsble being open about it. His wife was born in Syria, moved to Lebanon where he met her bringing her to the states. She was the most submissive wife I have ever met, very deferential even to me. Made my wife crazy because she knew I would compare. I was pretty strict with my wife, but he seemed to have a more relaxed approch in leading his family that I envied.

2 Answers

0 votes
I actually want an answer to this question by somebody who is pretty knowladgable about Islam.
answered Aug 23, 2012 by anonymous
0 votes
Why do you assume that I am not knowledgable in Islam? I simply would say if he beats you with his fist this is not acceptable and you cannot tell me this never happens in Islam. As a matter of fact it happens everywhere, and at your age there should be other ways to deal with issues.
answered Aug 23, 2012 by anonymous (6,010 points)
...