What Is the Context of This Hadith?

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate

I pray you are in good faith and health. Thank you for your question.

It was narrated that Ash’ath bin Qais (Allah be pleased with him) said: “I hosted Umar at my home, and he went and hit his wife. He told me: ‘O Ash’ath, learn from me something that I heard from the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace): A man should not be asked why he beats his wife, and do not go to sleep until you have prayed the Witr. And I forgot the third thing.

Grading of this Hadith

This particular narration is narrated by Abu Dawud, Ibn Maja, and Musnad Ahmad. Shaykh Arna’ut states it is very weak—all through ‘Abd al-Rahman Musli.

The hadith is not hasan but very weak, as stated by the Hanbali hadith master al-Maqrizi in his Mukhtasar Kitab al-Witr and others because it comes only through ‘Abd al-Rahman Musli, who not only is “not known” as stated by al-Dhahabi in al-Mughni fil-Du‘afa,’ but is not known to narrate anything else whatsoever in all of hadith literature.

This makes him “of complete unknown reliability” (majhul) as per the criterion of Ibn Hajar in Taqrib al-Tahdhib that one from whom only one person narrated, without a declaration of his being trustworthy, is called unknown (majhul).

Finally, the sense of the words “A man is not to be asked why he beat his wife” does not mean that he is considered free to do so — because he is not since the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) explicitly prohibited wife-beating — but rather that one should not be pressed to disclose anything blameful about one’s wife.

[Gibril F.Haddad, A Rejected Report of Wife Beating]

Abdullah bin Zam`a narrates that the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) forbade laughing at a person who passes wind, and said, “How does anyone of you beat his wife as he beats the stallion camel and then he may embrace (sleep with) her?” And Hisham said, “As he beats his slave”  [Bukhari]

Scholars say the same principle applies to having a job. A woman may only work with her guardian’s permission, which also comes down to mutual understanding and balance.

I would like you to go through the valuable answers and links below. You will receive guidance and direction in sha Allah.

Does a Woman Need Her Father’s or Husband’s Permission To Work, Even From Home? – SeekersGuidance

Why not begin your search for knowledge by signing up for a course on SeekersAcademy (seekersguidance.org)?

I pray this helps with your question.

Wassalam,

[Mawlana] Ilyas Patel

Mawlana Ilyas Patel is a traditionally trained scholar who has studied in the UK, India, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, and Turkey.

He started his early education in the UK. He went on to complete hifz of the Quran in India, then enrolled into an Islamic seminary in the UK, where he studied the secular and Alimiyyah sciences. He then travelled to Karachi, Pakistan.

He has been an Imam in Rep of Ireland for a number of years. He has taught hifz of the Qur’an, Tajwid, Fiqh, and many other Islamic sciences to both children and adults onsite and online extensively in UK and Ireland. He taught at a local Islamic seminary for 12 years in the UK, where he was a librarian and a teacher of Islamic sciences.

He currently resides in the UK with his wife. His personal interest is the love of books and gardening.