A Socio-Religious Comparative Analysis of Islamic and Christian Perspectives on Domestic Violence Against Women

Abstract

Domestic violence against women remains one of the most serious violations of human rights affecting women in all societies around the world. Even though both Islam and Christianity emphasize justice, compassion, and the sanctity of family life, there are certain passages in both scriptures which have been misinterpreted and given rise to debates on gender roles and marital authority. Therefore, there exist misunderstandings regarding the religion which have shaped the public perception of domestic violence. The objective of the study was to compare the perspective of both Islam and Christianity on domestic violence against women in order to discover the extent to which the truth of the religion can support or deny any violence within the family. The main purpose was to find out the similarities and differences between religions, to differentiate the religious teachings from the cultural practices, and to check the role of religious leaders in stopping domestic violence or establishment of women's rights. A qualitative research design was utilized utilizing a comparative method. The primary data were gathered through semi-structured interviews conducted among 10 religious scholars who were five Muslim scholars and five Christians scholars selected conveniently using purposive sampling based on their religious knowledge and experience. Interview data were than analyzed in accordance with thematic analysis. The analysis has shown that there are seven themes (1) respect for women and their dignity, (2) condemning domestic violence as something that goes against the true teaching of religion, (3) interpreting religious texts in their context (4) social and cultural reasons behind domestic violence (5) involvement of religious leaders in fighting such violence (6) securing women’s rights and (7) ways to stop domestic violence. Both communions Muslim and Christian scholars confirmed that women have their dignity and domestic violence does not comply with the morality of religions. Islamic scholars stressed that interpretation of the Qur'an should be conducted in a wider context of justice, mercy, and Prophet Muhammad's (peace be upon him) attitudes toward women. It has been disclosed in the findings that many of the causes of domestic violence can be traced back to both certain cultural norms of patriarchism, as well as such things as misinterpretation of scriptures, inadequate religious education, poverty, substance abuse, poor communication skills, and lack of proper implementation of laws rather than the core teachings of Islam or Christianity. The results of this study revealed remarkable similarity between Islam and Christianity regarding domestic violence against women.