“I’m not normally a fan of speedy divorce – or of divorce at all, for that matter,” writes Kathryn Jean Lopez. But here, writes Lopez, is a divorce that should have been granted:
“In a German case in which a Muslim, Moroccan-born 26-year-old mother of two was petitioning for an expedited divorce from a man who had beaten her and threatened her life, Judge Christa Datz-Winter denied the woman’s request, a woman who already had a restraining order on her husband after police were called last May because he attacked her. The reason for the injudicious divorce denial? The Koran, the judge said, instructs that ‘men are in charge of women.’ She explained further that the couple hails from a ‘Moroccan cultural environment in which it is not uncommon for a man to exert a right of corporal punishment over his wife.'”
Sharia in Germany? Yes, you read that right. KLo adds:
“Clearly, Datz-Winter’s was a reprehensible ruling. But it’s also one that highlights real problems we face all over the world. It’s at the heart of this war we’re in. It’s at the heart of struggles by so-called moderate Muslims who would never dream of beating their wives or condoning anyone who would engage in or justify such brutality.
“The ruling epitomizes the struggle that nations – East and West – are facing as they weigh issues of multiculturalism and sharia-law (Islamic law) influences. And it shows that some nations have taken multiculturalism too far.”