The Biblical Command of Love vs. the Quranic Permission of Violence

By Dr. Maxwell Shimba, Shimba Theological Institute

One of the striking differences between the Judeo-Christian Scriptures and the Quran is their treatment of marital ethics and the dignity of women. The Apostle Paul, writing to the church in Ephesus, exhorts husbands: “So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself” (Ephesians 5:28, KJV). The ethic is clear: just as one does not inflict harm on oneself, so a man must never harm his wife. Love, not violence, is the foundation of Christian marriage.

In sharp contrast, the Quran in Surah 4:34 provides instruction that has been interpreted by Islamic jurists as legitimizing domestic violence: “… As to those women on whose part you fear disobedience, admonish them, forsake them in beds, and beat them…” (Quran 4:34, Yusuf Ali translation). Unlike the Biblical command to nurture and cherish, this text has historically given religious sanction to wife-beating, creating a normative framework in which physical discipline is embedded in religious practice. Muslim exegetes may attempt to soften the verse linguistically—arguing for symbolic or “light” striking—yet the term idribuhunna (beat them) has consistently been interpreted in Islamic law as a justification for physical chastisement.

The implications of these texts are not merely theoretical but manifest in lived realities across Muslim-majority nations. The United Nations and Human Rights Watch report alarming statistics: in Bangladesh, 70% of women experience spousal violence; in Afghanistan, over 85% of women report abuse; in Pakistan, nearly 1,000 women annually fall victim to so-called “honor killings”; in Iran, a woman is murdered by family members on average every two days. These realities reflect a cultural and religious legitimization of violence that traces its roots, in part, to Quranic endorsement.

In contrast, Judaism and Christianity have established theological and legal safeguards against domestic abuse. Jewish rabbinical tradition interprets the Torah through the lens of compassion, requiring the husband to honor and provide for his wife (cf. Exodus 21:10; Mishnah Ketubot 5:6). Christian teaching, modeled on Christ’s sacrificial love for the Church, places the husband in the role of servant-leader whose task is to nourish and cherish his wife (Ephesians 5:25–29). In both traditions, spousal abuse is viewed not only as a moral failing but as a violation of divine command and, in modern societies, as a punishable crime under civil law.

The absence of any Quranic injunction commanding husbands to “love their wives as themselves” is telling. Instead, polygamy (Quran 4:3), veiling (Quran 33:59), and restrictions on women’s autonomy establish a framework of subjugation rather than partnership. If divine revelation reflects the nature of God, then the Biblical command of love is consistent with the God of grace, whereas the Quranic license to strike one’s wife is consistent with a human, patriarchal imposition.

Thus, the theological distinction becomes clear: Christianity and Judaism root marital ethics in love, mutual honor, and the dignity of personhood, while Islam’s textual tradition embeds a sanction for coercion and violence. To conflate the two is to ignore the radical difference between a God who commands sacrificial love and a text that authorizes physical domination.

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📖 References

• The Holy Bible, King James Version.

• The Holy Quran, Surah 4:34 (Yusuf Ali Translation).

• Mishnah Ketubot 5:6.

• United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Reports on Violence Against Women.

• Human Rights Watch, World Report on Women’s Rights.

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