Sayyidah Umm Kulthum bint Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Men were forbidden from beating women, then they complained about the women to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so he (peace and blessings be upon him) allowed them to beat them. Then I said: Tonight seventy women came to the family of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) who had been beaten. Yahya said: I think it was al-Qasim. The narrator said: Then afterwards they were told: "The best of you will never beat (their wives)."
Hadith Referenceالسنن الكبرى للبيهقي / كتاب القسم والنشوز / 14776