Why Did Allah Tell Ayoub to Strike His Wife With a Bundle of Grass?
لماذا أمر الله تعالى أيوب عليه السلام 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.
قال الله تعالى: (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 | يمينٌ في ساعة شدة
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.
صدرت اليمين عن غضب على أمر صنعته زوجته وهو مريض، وأما ثناء الله تعالى عليه في الآية نفسها فقد بيّناه في جواب: بمَ عُرف النبي أيوب عليه السلام؟ فقد كان صبره احتمالًا حقيقيًّا لشدة حقيقية، لا خلوًّا من المشاعر التي يجدها البشر.
2. A Vow That Became a Problem Once He Recovered | يمينٌ صارت حرجًا 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.
لما شُفي أيوب عليه السلام كان الحال قد تغير، فالمرأة التي حلف ليضربنّها مئة ضربة هي الزوجة الوفية التي لزمته سنين المرض، كما بيّنا في جواب: بمَ ابتُلي أيوب عليه السلام، وكيف شُفي؟ ولو أمضى يمينه على ما حلف لكان ذلك جزاءً للوفاء بالأذى، وهو ما سمّاه الجواب نفسه «جزاءً سيئًا» لصبرها.
3. A Ruling Built to Protect Her, Not to Permit Harm | حكمٌ لحمايتها لا لإيذائها
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 يكن أمر الله تعالى حيلةً تُجيز القسوة باسم ظاهر الحكم، بل هو رحمة صريحة بأيوب وبزوجته معًا. فبضربها ضربة واحدة بمئة عود مجموعة بَرّ بيمينه، كما بيّن ابن كثير، وسلمت هي من الجلدات المئة. فالمقصود من هذا الحكم حمايتها من العقوبة التي حلف عليها، لا إباحتها، وأما كفارة من حنث في يمينه في غير هذا فقد بيّناها في الجواب عن كفارة اليمين.
4. Her Patience Named Alongside His | صبرها مذكورٌ مع 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.
ينص الجواب على أن الله رحمهما جميعًا، لا أيوب وحده. وفيه إقرار صريح بصبر زوجته طوال مرضه، فوُضع ثباتها إلى جانب ثباته، وجاء الحكم إكرامًا لها لا إغفالًا لشأنها.
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.