A New View on the Quranic Exegesis of the Wife's Disobedience

The view of exegetes and the great Islamic jurisprudents on the meaning of wife's disobedience in the Quran 4: 34 and the matter of physical punishment returns to two general theories: wife's disobedience is interpreted by a group of exegetes and Islamic jurisprudents as the wife's denial of sexual duties, while it has been interpreted, in its general meaning, by another group as the wife's denial of marital duties. Based on these theories the husband, after giving advice and keeping away from his wife, can prevent her from disobedience through physical punishment. The present text aims at criticizing the above-mentioned interpretations and presenting a new exegesis based on which disobedience is meant the wife's betray lower than adultery. As a result, allowing the husband to physically punish her wife is not related to the wife's disobedience or minor violations of marital rights, but it pertains to the woman's disloyalty and violating God's right.