Islam and domestic violence: do you know what a German judge decided?

Question

"He beat her and threatened her with murder. But because husband and wife were both from Morocco [an Islamic country], a German divorce court judge saw no cause for alarm. It's a religion thing, she argued."
"A 26-year-old mother of two wanted to free herself from what had become a miserable and abusive marriage. The police had even been called to their apartment to separate the two -- both of Moroccan origin -- after her husband got violent in May 2006. The husband was forced to move out, but the terror continued: Even after they separated, the spurned husband threatened to kill his wife.

Summary: Divorce DENIED in Germany.

For more information:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,473017,00.html

Answer 1

Just take note over what is happening in Germany right now...

In Frankfurt; a female judge was removed from a case after her original decision to deny a divorce to a Moroccan Immigrant on the grounds that the Koran allows husbands to beat their wives. The judge apparently implied that this poor woman who was married in Morocco should take her beatings as part of the deal of being married!!!


The of course there is the rising toll in Honor Killings, in which the victims are usually young women who have refused an arranged marriage or seemingly strayed from one. The killer in this instance is usually the husband or brother of the husband or even the wife! Between 1996 and 2004 there were 48 cases in Germany’s Fed. Crime office. That is just on data collected that is confirmed as Honor Killings, many other cases exist where the verdict is not in yet due to lack of evidence. In some cases the local community can be an accomplice.


Some case studies suggest that legislators are in fear of throwing the book at these animals simply out of public reprisal. Take for example the case of Hatun Surucu a Kurdish Turk woman who had enough abuse and decided to become a single mother and make a go of life in Germany. She was shot dead by her own 3 brothers; the youngest of which got a slap on the wrist 9 year sentence, the other two walked for lack of evidence! That’s right, not a typo people. Meanwhile 65% of Germans polled want to see the entire family deported.


In another case in the North Rhine, a man gets acquitted of killing his brothers former girlfriend despite strong evidence that it was an honor killing.


Why does ask the German court err on the side of appeasement?? Germans are highly sensitive of their Nazi past and are afraid of being called bigots or racist and charges of racism create a fear that keep a power play in the Muslims favor. The Muslim population knows this all too well and uses the victim/race card frequently in matters of law. Furthermore, the growing demographic of Muslims in their land could trigger the same kind of riots that happened in Clichy-sous-Bois, Paris suburbs last year. As Myria Bohmecke, a spokesperson for a woman’s right group has stated “ no public servant wants to be accused of being a racist, but women as a result suffer for it”.



This is exactly what you can expect to happen here in the U.S. if we continue to turn a blind eye to Islamic extremism, they will change law after law to satisfy their “sensitivities” till one day you are waking up at 5 Am to the sounds of a bullhorn calling the faithful to morning prayer, your kid will recite an altered version of the pledge of allegiance, gang rapes and honor killings will increase without little legal retribution..

Answer 2

After reading conranger's post I'm just sick to my stomach. Obviously this judge has personal issues she needs to resolve before she can take part in a decision like this. To begin with, no man is ever given permission to beat a woman in Islam. However her misjudgement on this was just a small matter in her ruling. Even IF the Qur'an had given a man permission to beat his wife, is domestic abuse not against the law in Germany? Will Germany give permission for a man to marry up to four wives since it's a "religious thing?" Will Germany allow Muslims to participate in financing, yet dismiss them from the responsibility of interest rates since it is forbidden in Islam? Obviously not. This judge is insane! A failure of the system if there ever was one.
God help the poor woman and her children.

Zus: I'm so glad to hear that. Have there been any updates on the woman's situation?

Answer 3

IN Islam a man is not allowed to beat his wife, and a wife may ask for divorce even if the husband didn't do anything!
get your facts straight! Its ignorant people like you who feed off the media and always get the wrong picture about everything!
seriously, it might take some extra energy, but try thinking for yourself!

Answer 4

She is saying that divorce is a religious thing and nothing else.

He cannot beat his wife in Islam, he cannot cause her any bruising. He even has to keep his voice down in her company, so can you blame religion when this is a people issue.

If the German court denied the divorce then bring it up with them.

Notice he didn't strike her in Morocco but in the west, has the west corrupted him? Is that as ridiculous as your claim?

Answer 5

It is allowed because of the hadith in the Qu'ran that says it is permissible to 'beat a woman lightly' so as to avoid injury. This patriarchal, oppressive medieval cult is about the subjugation of women. One has only to read the Qu'ran in which inheritance laws favour sons over widows, the rule of khulwa, the testimony of a woman in court is worth half the weight of a man's testimony and all the other examples of female oppression and subjugation. It is a vile cult and it's depressing to see ignorant, indoctrinated, brainwashed women defending it.

Answer 6

This happened back in March. She was immediately removed from the case and Germany was outraged.

Edit: hayaa_bi_taqwa: I haven't heard anything new about this case since it first hit the press. It's possible that she hasn't been able to get a new hearing yet, but I very much hope that's not the case.

Answer 7

THAT IS RACIST --that would not happen like that in Morocco--not in this type of situation.

Actually BEATING your wife is not allowed in Islam.

check out a lecture on Men and Women in Islam by Hamza Yusuf.

I could go on but we as muslims have spoken out against this already. If you don't want to hear that is on you.

Answer 8

It would be far better if you would post ALL the story, not just the bits you need to stir controversy!!!

A quick divorce seemed to be the only solution -- the 26-year-old was unwilling to wait the year between separation and divorce mandated by German law. She hoped that as soon as they were no longer married, her husband would leave her alone. Her lawyer, Barbara Becker-Rojczyk agreed and she filed for immediate divorce with a Frankfurt court last October. They both felt that the domestic violence and death threats easily fulfilled the "hardship" criteria necessary for such an accelerated split.

In January, though, a letter arrived from the judge adjudicating the case. The judge rejected the application for a speedy divorce by referring to a passage in the Koran that some have controversially interpreted to mean that a husband can beat his wife. It's a supposed right which is the subject of intense debate among Muslim scholars and clerics alike."The exercise of the right to castigate does not fulfill the hardship criteria as defined by Paragraph 1565 (of German federal law)," the daily Frankfurter Rundschau quoted the judge's letter as saying. It must be taken into account, the judge argued, that both man and wife have Moroccan backgrounds.

"The husband can beat his wife"

"The right to castigate means for me: the husband can beat his wife," Becker-Rojczyk said, interpreting the judge's verdict.

In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, Becker-Rojczyk said the judge indicated to her that it makes no sense to insist on an accelerated divorce. The judge's advice? Wait for the year-long waiting period to elapse.

The lawyer and her client were shocked. Immediately, they filed a claim alleging that the judge should have recused herself due to a conflict of interest. They felt that, because of the point of view presented by the judge, she was unable to reach an objective verdict. In the reply sent to Becker-Rojczyk, the judge expressly referred to a Koran verse -- or sura -- which indicates that a man's honor is injured when his wife behaves in an unchaste manner. "Apparently the judge deems it unchaste when my client adapts a Western lifestyle," Becker-Rojczyk said.

On Tuesday evening, Becker-Rojczyk expressed amazement that the judge was still on the bench, given that the controversial verdict was handed down weeks ago. Becker-Rojczyk had elected to go public with the case to attract attention to the judge's conduct. It seems to have worked. On Wednesday, after the Tuesday evening publication of the story on SPIEGEL ONLINE, the attorney received a fax from the Frankfurt court granting the conflict of interest claim and excusing the judge from the case.

Still, it is unlikely that the case will be heard again before the mandated year of separation expires in May. But the judge who heard the case may have to face further consequences for her decision. On Wednesday, numerous politicians in Berlin voiced their horror at the verdict -- and demanded disciplinary action against the judge.

"In my opinion, this is a case of extreme violation of the rule of law that can't be solved with a mere conflict of interest ruling," Social Democrat parliamentarian Dieter Wiefelspütz told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "There have to be further consequences. This is a case for judicial supervision -- this case needs to be further investigated."

The deputy floor leader for the Christian Democrats, Wolfgang Bosbach, agreed. "This is a sad example of how the conception of the law from another legal and cultural environment is taken as the basis for our own notion of law," he said on Wednesday.

This isn't the first time that German courts have used cultural background to inform their verdicts. Christa Stolle of the women's rights organization Terre des Femmes said that in cases of marital violence, there have been a number of cases where the perpetrator's culture of origin has been considered as a mitigating circumstance -- although such verdicts have become seldom in recent years.

But there remains quite a bit of work to do. "In my work educating sexist and short-sighted Muslim men," asked Michaela Sulaika Kaiser of the Network for Muslim Women, "do I now have to convince German courts that women are also people on the same level with men and that they, like any other human, have the right to be protected from physical and psychological violence?"

Answer 9

I feel this is a horrible decision. He will most likely end up killing her, or she will have to find unnatural ways to get a divorce...it's horrible.

Answer 10

Is Obama a Muslim? Does he beat his wife? Or is he only half Muslim. So maybe he only beats her below the waist?

Where does the Koran say he should beat her? Below the waist or about the head?

I guess if you are a Democrat you would feel it is his choice.