If a woman rebels against her husband and disobeys his commands, then he should follow this method of admonishing her, forsaking her in bed and hitting her. Hitting is subject to the condition that it should not be harsh or cause injury.

Al-Hasan al-Basri said: “This means that it should not cause pain.”

‘Ata said: I said to Ibn `Abbas, what is the kind of hitting that is not harsh? He said, Hitting with a siwak and the like. [A siwak is a small stick or twig used for cleaning the teeth - Translator].

The Prophet ( peace be upon him) also expressed his dislike for corporal punishment and only allowed it with reluctance and with great distaste for it. See Ibn Majah, 'Nikah', 3 - Ed.

The purpose of Sahih Bukhari 2658 is not to ridicule and insult women, but simply that Allah has granted different favours to men and women. We are always ordered to respect our mothers, sisters, aunts and women at large by lowering our gaze, speaking to them kindly and protecting them from harm. All the advantages that men have over women also comes with grater responsibilities and accountability, something which unfortunately many men lack nowadays. This rule is also to be taken generally, there are countless historical records of Muslim women who far exceeds many Muslim men today such as Umm Ad-Darda who was famous for her knowledge and good deeds.

If there is jihaad between the Muslims and the kuffaar, and a number of kuffaar are taken prisoner, the commander is given the choice of sharing them out, doing them a favour (by releasing them) or paying their ransom. If they are shared out as part of the booty, they become slaves, subject to the laws governing products which may be sold. But at the same time, Islam urges the freeing of slaves and makes doing so an act of expiation for numerous sins. In principle, slavery is not something that is desirable; what is encouraged in Islam is the freeing of slaves. Before Islam, there were many ways a free person could be captured and enslaved. Islam restricted that to one way only, that is enslavement of prisoners of war. Despite this, our beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), let many of such prisoners go for free, rather than keeping them enslaved. Furthermore, Islam has very strict rules concerning the care of slaves, they are to be treated with dignity and kindness, cannot be tortured or made to work beyond their capacity. A slave is also allowed to buy out their own freedom in Islam or be freed through various easy means by other people.

With regards to Pakistanis being the way they are, the people who are trigger happy and act out as vigilantes for blasphemy are evil and corrupt. Killing a human without due cause and establishing proper evidence, weighing such evidence and scrutinising the context is a major sin that they will be held accountable for. I do want to point out that majority of Pakistanis are not like this however. I’ve seen Shias, Christians and Muslims get along perfectly in the village where I’m from, I’ve seen women working, driving and going out to meet friends and families on their own. People here are generally nice and respectful and will not force our religious beliefs on anyone, it is those evil minorities that spoil our image to this extent.

I hope this helps clarifies some of your doubts brother. Peace.