Why Did Allah Tell Ayoub to Strike His Wife With a Bundle of Grass?
لماذا أمر الله أيوب أن يضرب زوجته بحزمة من العيدان؟
(˹And We said to him,˺ “Take in your hand a bundle of grass, and strike ˹your wife˺ with it, and do not break your oath.” We truly found him patient. What an excellent servant ˹he was˺! Indeed, he ˹constantly˺ turned ˹to Allah˺.) Sad 38:44
Note: The quoted verse, “Take in your hand a bundle of grass”, is Sad 38:44; the reference in the original answer, 38:43, has been corrected.
Job PBUH had become angry with his wife over something she did while he was ill, so he swore that if Allah Almighty healed him, he would strike her a hundred lashes. His wife had been sincere to him and had borne his affliction with great patience, so striking her, after all she had endured, would have been an evil reward. So Allah Almighty instructed him to take in his hand a bundle of a hundred sticks and strike her with it a single time, so that he would be released from his oath without breaking it. Allah showed him mercy with this ruling, and showed mercy to his patient wife, for Job was a servant sincere to Allah, often turning to Him.
(وَخُذْ بِيَدِكَ ضِغْثًا فَاضْرِب بِّهِ وَلَا تَحْنَثْ ۗ إِنَّا وَجَدْنَاهُ صَابِرًا ۚ نِّعْمَ الْعَبْدُ ۖ إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ) (ص 38: 44)
ملاحظة: الآية المذكورة (وَخُذْ بِيَدِكَ ضِغْثًا) هي ص 38: 44، وكانت الإحالة في الجواب الأصلي إلى الآية الثالثة والأربعين، فصححت.
كَانَ أَيُّوبُ، عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ، قَدْ غَضِبَ عَلَى زَوْجَتِهِ فِي شَيءٍ فَعَلَتْهُ وَهُوَ مَرِيضٌ، فَأَقْسَمَ إِنْ شَفَاهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى لَيَضْرِبَنَّهَا مِئَةَ جَلْدَةٍ، وَكَانَتْ زَوْجَتُهُ قَدْ أَخْلَصَتْ لَهُ، وَاحْتَمَلَتْ بَلاَءَهُ بِصَبْرٍ كَبِيرٍ فَكَانَ ضَرْبُها مَعَ كُلِّ مَا احْتَمَلَتْهُ جَزَاءً سَيِّئاً، فَأَفْتَاهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى أَنْ يَأْخُذَ بِيَدِهِ حُزْمَةً مِنَ العِيدَانِ فِيهَا مِئَةُ عُودٍ، وَيَضْرِبَها بِهَا ضَرْبَةً وَاحِدَةً، فَيَتَحَلَّلَ مِنْ يَمِينِهِ، وَلاَ يَحْنَثَ، فَرَحِمَهُ اللهُ بِهَذِهِ الفَتْوَى، وَرَحِمَ زَوْجَتَهُ الصَّابِرَةَ، فَقَدْ كَانَ أَيُّوبُ عَبْداً مُخْلِصاً للهِ، كَثِيرَ الإِنَابَةِ إِلَيْهِ.
1. An Oath Made Under Real Strain | يمين صدر في لحظة ضيق حقيقي
The oath itself came from a moment of anger at something his wife had done while he was sick (see what Prophet Ayoub was known for for the verse’s broader description of him). His patience was real endurance under real strain, not the absence of ordinary human feeling.
صدر اليمين نفسه من لحظة غضب على أمر فعلته زوجته وهو مريض (انظر مقال بماذا عُرف النبي أيوب). فصبره كان تحملا حقيقيا تحت ضغط حقيقي، لا غياب المشاعر الإنسانية العادية.
2. A Vow That Became a Problem Once He Recovered | يمين تحول إلى مشكلة بعد الشفاء
By the time Ayoub was healed, the situation had completely changed: the very woman he had sworn to strike a hundred times was a faithful companion who had remained at his side through years of illness (see what Ayoub was tried with). Carrying out the oath as originally sworn would have punished loyalty with harm, an outcome the answer itself calls “an evil reward” for her patience.
بحلول وقت شفاء أيوب، كان الوضع قد تغير تماما: فالمرأة نفسها التي أقسم أن يضربها مئة مرة كانت رفيقة وفية بقيت بإخلاص إلى جانبه طوال سنوات المرض (انظر مقال بم امتُحن أيوب عليه السلام). وتنفيذ اليمين كما أُقسمت أصلا كان سيعاقب الوفاء بالأذى، وهي نتيجة يصفها الجواب نفسه بأنها “جزاء سيئا” لصبرها.
3. A Ruling Built to Protect Her, Not to Permit Harm | حكم صُمم لحمايتها لا لإباحة أذيتها
Allah’s instruction was not a loophole for cruelty dressed up as technicality; it is described explicitly as mercy, both to Ayoub and to his wife. By striking her once with a hundred stalks bundled together, he fulfilled his oath, as Ibn Kathir explains, while she was spared the hundred lashes. The point of the ruling was to protect her from the punishment he had sworn, not to permit it; how a broken oath is otherwise expiated is explained in atonement for breaking an oath.
لم تكن وصية الله ثغرة تتيح القسوة متنكرة في ثوب حرفية الحكم؛ بل وُصفت صراحة بأنها رحمة، لأيوب ولزوجته معا. فبضربها مرة واحدة بمئة عود مجموعة معا برّت يمينه، كما يبين ابن كثير، وسلمت هي من الجلدات المئة. وكان الغرض من هذا الحكم حمايتها من العقوبة التي أقسمها، لا الإذن بتنفيذها؛ أما كفارة من حنث في يمينه في غير ذلك فمبينة في مقال كفارة اليمين.
4. Her Patience Named Alongside His | صبرها مذكور إلى جانب صبره
The answer is explicit that Allah showed mercy to both of them, not to Ayoub alone. His wife’s own endurance through the length of his illness is acknowledged directly in the text, placing her steadfastness beside his as something the resolution was specifically designed to honor rather than overlook.
تنص الإجابة صراحة على أن الله رحم كليهما، لا أيوب وحده. ويُقر النص مباشرة بتحمّل زوجته طوال فترة مرضه، واضعا ثباتها إلى جانب ثباته كأمر صُمم الحل خصيصا لتكريمه لا لتجاهله.
Frequently Asked Questions | الأسئلة الشائعة
Why did Ayoub swear to strike his wife a hundred times?
According to Ibn Kathir’s tafsir, he made the oath in a moment of anger over something she did while he was ill.
Why was carrying out the oath a problem once he recovered?
His wife had faithfully cared for him throughout his illness, so striking her a hundred times would have punished her loyalty.
How did Allah resolve the oath?
According to Ibn Kathir’s tafsir, He told Ayoub to strike her once with a bundle of a hundred stalks, fulfilling his oath while sparing her the hundred lashes.
Was this ruling meant to permit harming her?
No. Ibn Kathir explains it as a way out that Allah gave Ayoub, so that he kept his oath without giving his faithful wife a hundred blows in return for her devoted service, a mercy to them both.
Which verse of the Quran records this ruling?
Surah Sad 38:44.