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Germany: A judge has been replaced after she used the Qur'an to deny an abused woman a quickie divorce.
The judge, Christa Datz-Winter, said the German woman of Moroccan descent would not be granted a divorce because she and her husband came from aMoroccan cultural environment in which it is not uncommon for a man to exert a right of corporal punishment over his wife,according to a statement she wrote that was issued by a Frankfurt court.That's what the claimant had to reckon with when she married the defendant.
The 26-year-old mother of two had been repeatedly beaten and threatened with death by her husband.
When the woman protested against the judge's decision, Ms Datz-Winter invoked the Qur'an to support her argument. In the court she read from verse 34 of Sura four of the Qur'an, An-Nisa (Women), in which men are told to hit their wives as a final stage in dealing with disobedience. The verse reads:... as to those on whose part you fear desertion, admonish them and leave them alone in the sleeping places and beat them.
The woman's lawyer, Barbara Becker-Rojczyk, protested, saying:When Christians are arguing for a divorce they don't use the Bible.
The decision outraged womens organisations, but also Germany's Central Council of Muslims which quickly issued a statement pointing out Violence and abuse of people are of course naturally reasons to warrant a divorce in Islam as well.
German judge invokes Qur'an to deny abused wife a divorce—The Guardian, 23rd March 2007.
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Church and State
at 02:30. Last modified on March 23 2007 at 02:40.
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