Montreal Man Refuses Sharia Divorce To The Wife He Stabbed

Check out the warped logic going around in circles in this news story. What the heck?


MONTREAL (CP) - The Crown says a Montreal man's refusal to grant his Muslim wife a Shariah divorce should be considered an aggravating factor when he is sentenced Friday for stabbing her and their baby daughter.

Other than that, there is nothing the courts can do for the woman, whose husband pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault to avoid attempted murder charges.

That, say advocates, is the problem with the refusal to recognize Shariah law in the Canadian judicial system.

Observant Muslim women, especially those who emigrated from Islamic countries, feel they have nowhere to turn, said Shahina Siddiqui, executive director of the Winnipeg-based Islamic Social Services Association.

"Many, many times we see this," Siddiqui said.


What a genius fucking argument. Think about it. This guy is basically saying more women are gonna be stabbed if Canada doesn't allow Sharia law, which, by the way, stipulates that women are only worth half that of a man.

Oh God, and the Canadian Press prints this garbage.

And, think about this, even if Sharia existed in Canada, the man still would not have allowed his wife the divorce.


In the current case, the 31-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his daughter, attacked his wife in their Montreal apartment in February 2006, stabbing her several times, including in the face.

He then stabbed the infant girl twice in the stomach. She spent 10 days in hospital recovering.
The man testified at his sentencing hearing earlier this week that he will not agree to a divorce under Shariah law in Canada.

"The issue of the divorce will be decided over there," he told the judge, referring to their home country of Lebanon.

He also denied he needed treatment for his violent behaviour.

The Crown has asked for a seven-year sentence, citing the refusal to grant the Shariah divorce as an aggravating factor.

The defence has suggested a three-year sentence.

The woman earlier told the court she would like to return to her family in Lebanon but without the religious divorce and worries she could be forced to return to her husband or face charges of abducting her own daughter.

"They had a religious marriage in Lebanon and if she returns she could have problems," Crown lawyer Sophie Lavergne told the judge.


Ok, now let's think about that statement. The oh so benevolent Sharia law that these Muslims are pining away to have instituted in Canada, apparently, wouldn't grant the woman a divorce in Lebanon even though her husband had stabbed her. Instead, she would be forced to return to her husband.


Critics say it's an example of the inequality of women in Shariah law that a man can simply refuse a religious divorce, even in such a case.

"The poor woman," said Nuzhat Jafri, spokeswoman for the Canadian Council of Muslim Women.

"She can get a legal divorce in Quebec. . . . Whether or not it is recognized in Lebanon is another matter."

Siddiqui suggested the woman ask an imam or a panel of Muslim scholars to acknowledge the court divorce.

"The Koran is very clear that you cannot keep women in a marriage against their will," she said.
But the ban on Shariah within the judicial system, with all its checks and balances, means Muslims can be at the mercy of local Islamic leadership, where "there's no way of monitoring it," she said.


Now, how much sense does that make, huh? Who monitors this crap anywhere in the world. It's always the Islamic leadership, and it sucks without fail.

I'm fuming. I'm gonna have to go for a walk after this post, damn it all.