Simply...Queen

7.|"Beat them"?|

The Holy Qur'an is a book of signs (from the arabic الآية, translit. "Al-āyah" "sign, symbol, miracle, precept" translated erroneously with "verse" which in Arabic is instead البيت translit. "Al-bayt"), of precepts, of wisdom, of a natural style life, of a Divine Law, which dictates to the individual a good conduct that is a well-defined moral conduct. Many Quranic signs invite muslim individuals to adopt a given behavior in a given situation.

The Sign in which Allāh turns to Muslims is very controversial and orders them to "beat them" referring to their wives when they fail to fulfill the commandments of Allāh.

Does Sharī'ah Law allow muslim husbands to beat their wives?

Textbooks used in schools are written in English. Despite this, students attend school. Why? Could they not stay at home and learn sitting on an armchair in their rooms?

The answer to that is very simple: someone has to explain the textbooks, despite the same language that is auxiliary for comprehending the message only but not for learning; So this is the methodology of embedding the informations contained in books written by men, who happen to be mortal beings living in this world.

For a just understanding of the Book of Allāh, that is why, He sent the Messenger and Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a teacher who explains; therefore, the Sunnah which is the second source of Islamic Laws, is nothing but a pragmatic interpretation of the Qur'an. For example, in the Qur'an in many passages Allāh orders His subjects to pray but in all over the Qur'an the way of performing it is not mentioned and note that prayer is one of the first pillars of Islām and the most important obligation ever after the Profession of Faith! To learn the procedure and the characteristics of the prayers we refer to the Sunnah.

Thus, the Holy Qur'ān should be understood according to the unique circumstances the Sings were revealed in i.e. by context. According to the expample of how books are taught in schools, he who reads the Book of Allāh must combine the Book with the explanation of the Teacher (the Messenger of Allāh, in this case) so that he may understand the text fully and learn the right precepts and apply them in his daily life.

The answer to the title-question in short, is no. The verb beating commonly makes the adressee think of actions such as hits, kicks, punches, pushes, shocks and none of these has anything to do with the Qur'ānic precept.
Sunnah then has to be taken account of for an accurate comprehension of the Book; the Messenger of Allāh (peace be upon him) did not beat any of his wives (that Allāh the Merciful be satisfied with all of them) since no official or even unofficial Islamic source refers to the Messenger under these characteristics.

What is the exact meaning of the Qur'ānic Sign taken under exam?

The act of beating any animal without a valid reason (as it would be a valid reason to whip the horse to go in the right direction) in the Sharī'ah is forbidden, this prohibition becomes even more looming in the human being because his body is made with beauty and it has not to be harassed, violence is both physical and psychological (eg. emotions, feelings). Emotions amplify pain up to the psychological sphere of perception reaching the social field of human relationships (eg. The oppressed will potentially not talk to the oppressor anymore, or the former will take a revenge on the latter).
The scenario becomes even worse in the case of females due to their particular delicacy.
A beaten up person will have bruises all over the body (injury to Physical Beauty); he or she will be emotionally disturbed and will close, even for a short time, into herself (lesions of the "psychic beauties" that are the essence of mankind). Allāh would have created these excellent characteristics that the human possesses and it is only He who has the right to harm them.

All this is also present in animals but in the case of man everything is more amplified because it has a superior intelligence compared to other living forms.

Therefore, and this concerns the parents, to beat children by leaving marks on the body is forbidden, despite the purpose is purely educational, as well as to hit the face in any way (slaps etc ...) is illegal in the light of the Sunnah and therefore of the Sharī'ah. The face is considered the fulcrum of a person's beauty (it does not matter if the person in question is "ugly" according to the judgment of mortals, the Created must not judge the Deed or the Judgement of the Creator, since He judged humans as beautiful Himself).
Returning to the main theme of the paragraph, to the nephew of the Messenger of Allāh and also his disciple, well known among the other disciples for his singular wisdom, ibn 'Abbās (that Allāh be pleased with him) was asked about the beating that left no signs and he replied:

"Beating with the Siwaak stick and what looks like it"

Do you know what Siwaak is? It is a stick of naturally scented wood, made from the plant Salvadora Persica, the Messenger of Allāh (Peace be upon him) used it to brush his teeth, and therefore a Sunnah that every good Muslim should apply, also because many scientific researches have demonstrated its healthy effects on the teeth and gums, as well as the prevention of caries without counting its antibacterial properties that control the movement of the plates and is used as a natural toothbrush by Muslims all over the world.

Siwaak in image

This is one of those many cases in which, as it is clear from the saying of ibn 'Abbās (that Allāh the Merciful be pleased with him) the action is purely symbolic, considering the size and the consistency of the stick, not to mention that it should not leave marks on the skin.

In conclusion, as the aforementioned lines assert, Sharī'ah does not encourage any form of violence against women, as, instead, many think out of either ignorance of how to interpret Islamic Sacred Texts or in light of some ignorant Muslims' behavior who ignore the true Teachings.