Surah 4:34 is the “most controversial” verse. I watched your lecture about it and you claimed it means a light “hit” with a miswak. Sayed Ammar Nakshawani says the word daraba means to separate. This would make sense because the beginning of the verse tells us men are the protectors and maintainers of women and if the verse ended with depart from or divorce this would make sense because you provide for them and if they show rebellion then you depart from them leaving them to provide for themselves. I also don’t like the interpretation of light beating because again women are adults not children they don’t need to belittle with a metaphorical beating to understand what is wrong.

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The word Darabah has a number of meanings in Arabic, and I mentioned the various meanings (not sure if it was all recorded). As for the Miswak point, this is based on a hadith that we have that states it. To be objective in any topic, I have to present the various opinions and viewpoints, and so I was presenting the viewpoint of some scholars that the hitting (when the conditions are fulfilled) must be light and with a Miswaak. But I was not advocating for this view and claiming that it’s the correct view. What I understand from the Miswak hadith is that it’s a method to break the ice.

One of the possibilities of the verse is that ضرب comes from the word اضراب which means to go on strike. Going on strike means to stop spending on them, to separate from them, etc… So this is one possibility scholars have stated (and it is supported by a hadith).

Another possibility is that ضرب comes from the word ضرب في الارض which means to travel. But most scholars have rejected this possibility