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Does the Qur'an command beating women? (4:34)

The claim: "4:34 says '…beat them (waḍribūhunna).' The Qur'an legitimises spousal violence."

First, the word and the meal

The context is graduated and restorative

4:34 gives three steps in sequence: first counsel, then leaving the bed, then separation / sending away; immediately after: "if they obey you, seek no way against them," and 4:35's family arbitration — the aim is not punishment but saving the marriage.

The general frame

An honest limit

This is a difficult verse, and we do not hide that. Most classical tafsirs read "waḍribūhunna" as "(lightly) strike"; linguistic readings, and Okuyan's, read "separate / send away." Both readings are sourced; we impose no single one. But the verse's graduated, de-escalating structure and the principle "live with them in kindness" (4:19) do not compel the claim that "the Qur'an praises violence."

Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal). Presented soberly and respectfully, with a text/interpretation distinction.

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