References Dr. Labib: ..... Then, I would say, fifthly, that the two different standards of life. You know you'll go to the Quran, and you'll see a big difference between the standard of life in the Bible and in the Quran, concerning marriage and divorce; concerning dealing with the wife. You go to the Quran and you'll see in reference to the wife, that the Quran permits the Muslim to beat his wife. In the Bible we see "love your wife as Christ loves the church". This is a very big difference. This is the first point I would kindly ask you to explain. Lastly, I would say the two different eternal destinies. The Quran is very clear, and let me read from the Quran if you will. Here is the Quran in my hand, and in Surat Mariam, and Surat Mariam is Surat number 19, and in verse 66, "and man says, "When I am dead, shall I then be raised up alive?" And then it ended saying here, "There is not one of you, Muslims. There is not one of you, Muslims, but will pass over hell." I shall repeat, the Quran is telling the Muslims, "There is not one of you, but will pass over hell." This is with your Lord, a decree which must be accomplished. When I read such verses in the Quran, I ask myself this question: why would anyone embrace a religion that will take him to hell? It is very clear, it is a decree that God will accomplish for every Muslim. When you go to the Bible, the Lord Jesus Christ said that we have in Him eternal life. "Whoever hears my voice, and believes in me, he has been transformed from this to life." There is eternal life to the Christian. And in the Quran there is a different destination. This is the second point that I would ask you to kindly explain. Thanks for your help Nohman Ishtiaq Answer: The comparison made between the Qur'an and the Bible, in the first of the two points, is completely out of place. The referred comparison is like comparing the directive of loving and respecting ones' fellow human beings in one of the two Books with that of killing the murderer in the other. The comparison would obviously be misplaced and illogical. In an almost similar manner, the author has compared a statement of the Bible, which promotes love and affection between husbands and their wives, under normal circumstances, to a statement in the Qur'an, which specifically relates to an extra-ordinary domestic situation. I really do not think that it would be justified to say that the Qur'an permits a Muslim to beat his wife. On the contrary, if one were to study the referred verse of the Qur'an more closely, it would be seen that it relates specifically to a situation in which the wife refuses to accept the husband's position in the household. Even in these circumstances, the Qur'an does not permit the husband to beat his wife, but actually directs him to refrain from violence and resort to admonishing his wife; if the wife corrects her behavior, then the Qur'an prohibits the husband from taking any uncalled for action against her. If, on the contrary, the wife persists in her recalcitrance, even then the Qur'an does not allow the husband to beat his wife. In such a situation, the Qur'an directs the husband to sever conjugal relations with the wife. Once again, if the wife corrects her behavior, the Qur'an directs the husband to accept the wife's correction and not to take any action against her. If, on the contrary, the wife persists in her behavior, only then does the Qur'an allow the husband to take punitive action against his wife. Explaining these directives of the Qur'an, I had written in one of my earlier responses: ... the basic stress in these verses of the Qur'an is to hinder a person from using force in correcting a domestic problem situation. The Qur'an, it should be observed, has not merely stated that in case a wife is persistent in disrupting the peace and tranquility of a household, her husband should beat her to bring her in line; on the contrary, the Qur'an has actually hindered the man from using force for correcting such a situation by directing him to resort to admonition. Then again, if continual and sincere admonitions of the man seem to be falling on deaf ears, even then the man cannot use force for correcting the situation. The Qur'an has once again hindered the person from using force, by directing him to show his disapproval of the wife's behavior by resorting to restraint in his conjugal relations with his wife. This restraint, once again, is in the hope to make the wife realize her mistakes. If we keep the occurrences of domestic abuse and violence - even in the modern "civilized world" - in perspective, we shall observe that it is not whether a person enjoys a legal right to beat his wife or not, which plays any role in such domestic violence. On the contrary, such physical violence is a result, generally, of an emotional outbreak and extreme anger. Man, due to the greater physical strength that he, generally, has as compared to a woman, has a higher tendency of resorting to physical violence in a state of extreme anger and an emotional outbreak. It is, in fact, in such a state of mind that man is most likely to physically harm a woman or to seriously injure her by resorting to force. The Qur'an, it should be observed, has disallowed the man from taking to force in such a state of mind. It has directed the man that even under enraging circumstances, the man should admonish the wife and advise her to correct her behavior. Thus, if seen in the correct perspective, the Qur'an has, in fact, hindered the man from resorting to physical force at the time when he is most likely to do so. In other words, the stated directive of the Qur'an is actually a directive for self-control and self-restraint for the man. Moreover, the act of admonition, which is recommended by the Qur'an at this stage, provides an opportunity for the exchange of views between the two individuals. This opportunity enhances any chance of correction of the situation through dialogue. However, if this dialogue does not improve the situation, even then the man is disallowed from resorting to any physical force. Even now, the Qur'an wants the man to practice self-restraint and to avoid all physical violence. On the contrary, it has directed the man to sever his conjugal relations with the woman, to show his disapproval of the situation. Thus, seen in the aforementioned perspective, the stated directive of the Qur'an is, in fact, to deter a person from resorting to any physical force in a state of mind, when he is most likely to take a rash action. As for normal circumstances, the relationship between a husband and wife is clearly based on love and affection, as has been referred in the Qur'an as well as the Bible. The Qur'an says: And among His signs is that He created for you mates of your own kind that you may live in tranquility with them and He has instilled in you love and mercy for them. ( Al-Room 30: 21) As for my response to the second objection, I would request you to kindly refer to one of my earlier responses to a criticism on the Qur'an titled: " Will all Muslims go to Hell? " . I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad December 12, 2001