German Judge Condemned for Citing Quran

Eine verschleierte Frau steht am Donnerstag, 22. Maerz 2007, vor dem Amtsgericht in Frankfurt am Main. Eine Frankfurter Familienrichterin hat in einem Scheidungsverfahren auf ein angebliches Gewaltrecht im Koran verwiesen und ist daraufhin von dem Fall ausgeschlossen worden. Wie das Amtsgericht am Mittwoch mitteilte, stimmte ein Richterkollege am Mittwoch einem Befangenheitsantrag einer deutsch-marokkanischen Frau zu. Der Fall muss jetzt von einer anderen Familienrichterin entschieden werden. (AP Photo/Michael Probst) ---A woman stands in front of a court in Frankfurt, central Germany, Thursday, March 22, 2007. (AP Photo/Michael Probst) (Michael Probst - AP)

BERLIN -- Politicians and Muslim leaders denounced a German judge for citing the Quran in her rejection of a Muslim woman's request for a quick divorce on grounds she was abused by her husband.

Judge Christa Datz-Winter said in a recommendation earlier this year that both partners came from a "Moroccan cultural environment in which it is not uncommon for a man to exert a right of corporal punishment over his wife," according to the court. The woman is a German of Moroccan descent married to a Moroccan citizen.

The judge argued that her case was not one of exceptional hardship in which fast-track divorce proceedings would be justified. When the woman protested, Datz-Winter cited a passage from the Quran that reads in part, "men are in charge of women."

The judge was removed from the case on Wednesday and the Frankfurt administrative court said it was considering disciplinary action.

Court vice president Bernhard Olp said Thursday the judge "regrets that the impression arose that she approves of violence in marriage."

While the Quranic verse cited does say that husbands are allowed to beat their wives if they are disobedient, Germany's Institute for Islamic Questions noted that such an interpretation was no longer standard.

"Of course not all Muslims use violence against their wives," the group said in a statement.

Olp said the judge thought she was protecting the woman, who had been granted a restraining order against her husband. She had seen no reason to grant help in paying court costs for a fast-track divorce.

Olp said her reasoning was unacceptable, but insisted it was a "one-time event" that would not have an effect on other cases, or on the final ruling in the divorce proceedings.

The latest uproar comes amid an ongoing debate in Germany about integrating its more than 3 million Muslims, most of them from Turkey. A decision last year to cancel an opera featuring the severed heads of the Prophet Muhammad and other religious figures out of security concerns caused a furor and was later retracted.

Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries condemned the judge's decision.

"Every so often, there are individual rulings that seem completely incomprehensible," she said.