Is not applying the prophetic hadith: "Hang the whip where the household can see it" – which includes children, servants, and the wife – considered a turning away from the Sunnah or a following of whims, especially if the wife does not inform her husband of this for fear that it might be understood as a request for her discipline, and is it permissible to abandon it if the husband does not need it due to the absence of insubordination?

The hadith (definition) about "hanging the whip where the household can see it" has been narrated through multiple chains of transmission, but none of them are free from weakness. Abu Hatim al-Razi explicitly stated its weakness, while some scholars, like Al-Albani, deemed it hasan (definition) (good).

"Household" (ahl al-bayt) refers to the inhabitants of the house who are under the guardianship of the head of the household, such as his wife and children.

Even if we accept the hadith as hasan, no scholar has ever stated that hanging the whip is obligatory. If a Muslim refrains from doing so, believing that the matter is flexible and not obligatory, then this is not considered a turning away from the Sunnah (definition).

Here, "Sunnah" does not mean the opposite of an obligation; rather, it means "method and approach." Turning away from it (al-raghbah anha) means averting oneself from it, renouncing it, and believing that it has little benefit, not merely refraining from it. This aligns with the approach of the Companions regarding recommended but not obligatory matters.

A person is considered to be turning away from the Sunnah if they believe that discipline through beating is absolutely ineffective and without benefit, and they criticize it. In doing so, they oppose the path of the Sharia (definition), which has commanded discipline through beating when there is a need for it.