67/94. Chapter:
Sahih Bukhari 5204 — Kindness and Restraint in Marriage
The beating of women is disapproved
Hadith About Beating the Wife and the Need for Kindness
Sahih Bukhari : 5204
Sahih BukhariHadith Number 5204
حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، حَدَّثَنَا سُفْيَانُ، عَنْ هِشَامٍ، عَنْ أَبِيهِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ زَمْعَةَ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ " لاَ يَجْلِدُ أَحَدُكُمُ امْرَأَتَهُ جَلْدَ الْعَبْدِ، ثُمَّ يُجَامِعُهَا فِي آخِرِ الْيَوْمِ ".
`Abdullah bin Zam`a Narrated from:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "None of you should flog his wife as he flogs a slave and then have sexual intercourse with her in the last part of the day."
Reference : Sahih al-Bukhari 5204In-book reference : Book 67, Hadith 138USC-MSA web (English) reference : Vol. 7, Book 62, Hadith 132
Summary of Sahih Bukhari Hadith 5204
This hadith about beating the wife is short, but its warning is strong. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says that none of you should flog his wife like a slave and then be intimate with her later in the same day. The message is not hidden. Harsh treatment and married closeness do not fit together. The hadith makes the listener feel the contradiction: how can someone hurt his wife in a severe way and then expect closeness soon after? The core topic is kindness and restraint in marriage. The text does not give a long legal discussion here, so the explanation should stay with what it says: cruel conduct toward a wife is strongly disapproved and morally ugly.
What we learn from this hadith
- Harsh treatment of a wife is strongly warned against.
- Married life should not mix cruelty with closeness.
- The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم pointed out the moral contradiction in such behavior.
- The hadith calls for restraint in how a husband treats his wife.
