Journal of Women Interdisciplinary Researches

Abstract One of the most important issues in the chapter on marriage is the problem of the wife’s nushuz (disobedience) and her unjustified refusal to fulfill marital duties. Verse 34 of Surah An-Nisa is regarded as one of the most significant Quranic evidences in explaining the method of confronting the wife’s nushuz. In addition to analyzing the content of the blessed verse, the purpose of this article is to examine whether the three stages mentioned in the verse are applicable solely within the framework of the private relationship between spouses and inside the family institution, or whether they carry implications beyond that and also include the possibility of official and governmental implementation of some of these stages through the ruler’s intervention. This noble verse, by explaining the limits of the husband’s authority in the face of his wife’s nushuz, seeks to state that the husband may, out of necessity, manage and resolve the wife’s nushuz through intra-family solutions and avoid hastening the dissolution of the marital relationship. By reconciling the permissibility of this solution—namely, light and mild striking by the husband—with the legitimacy of the ruler’s intervention, including the discretionary punishment (ta’zir) of the disobedient wife, this research demonstrates that the aforementioned verse is not only concerned with family management at the spousal level but also carries a general implication regarding the legitimacy of discipline and ta’zir in response to the refusal of marital rights. This can be justified as a religiously sanctioned and governmental guarantee of enforcement. Accordingly, Verse 34 of Surah An-Nisa, in addition to outlining intra-family management methods, can be considered a basis for the legitimacy of the ruler’s intervention in cases of nushuz and the application of ta’zir within the framework of Sharia, while preserving family order and marital rights. In other words, this verse presents a gradual system for confronting the wife’s nushuz—a system that begins with admonition by the husband and, in its final stage, leads to referral to the ruler for the realization of rights. Of course, it appears that in the present era, referring to specialized family counseling centers and receiving guidance from a family physician should be considered the best alternative to striking.