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284chapter fiveWhat happens, however, if a woman does not possess these qualitiesand skills? What if she once had all that characterises goodguardianship but lost it by wasting her skills and talents? In this case,a woman becomes what the Book calls a n§shiza, a woman who,because of her negative behaviour, is unfaithful to her talents andwho rebels against her good nature. Having addressed righteouswomen, verse (4:34) continues by saying, ‘if you fear high-handedness(nushåz) from your wives [sic]’ [AH]. It basically says that nushåzwomen squander God’s special gifts and do not ‘guard what Godwould have them guard’. The rest of the verse explains the procedureof dealing with the problem of nushåz:…admonish them (first). (Next), refuse to share their beds, (and last)[i·ribåhunna]; but if they return […], seek not against them means (ofannoyance)—for God is most high, great (above you all). ( Al-Nis§"4:34)By exclusively attaching this verse to the realm of marital relationship,some exegetes thought that nushåz meant a wife’s refusal to obeyher husband’s orders. 37 However, marital disobedience is not at allthe theme of the verse, which in fact focuses on a description ofgeneral leadership and guardianship. Also, nushåz connotes a muchwider meaning of disapproval and discord than just marital disobedience,which is evident in the following verse:O you who believe! When you are told to make room in the assemblies,(spread out and) make room: (ample) room will God provide for you.And when you are told to rise up [unshuzå], rise up [unshuzå]. God willrise up… ( Al-Muj§dila 58:11)This is evidence enough to suggest that nushåz cannot be renderedas the state of a wife’s recalcitrance or, as some traditionalists suggest,as her refusal to pray, fast, and pay zak§h. It is definitely not, asal-SuyåtÊ claimed, a form of female disobedience that needs to bedisciplined by her husband’s firm hand and, if needed, by corporalpunishment. It is closer to the truth, and to the spirit of the wholeverse, to say that nushåz means the lack of qiw§ma in a woman. If she37The suffix pronoun of nushåzahunna refers back to al-ߧliȧt un q§nit§t un , so if translatorshave rendered the latter as referring to a marital context, as did AH, YA, andAB, they must then understand the latter as referring to the nushåz of wives, eventhough the verse explicitly neither states ‘husband’ nor ‘wife’ (this is why MF, MP,AhA, AA regard, similar to MS, nushåzahunna as a reference to women in general,wives or not).