Germany: Judge applies Sharia to dowry case
Via De Stentor:
A German court settled a dispute Monday by applying Shariah law. The case in question involved a Turkish father who demanded the return of gold jewelry worth 12,000 euro from his ex-daughter-in-law. He had given her the jewelry as a dowry, but she divorced two months after the wedding.
The judge in Limburg an der Lahn, between Bonn and Frankfurt, ruled that the woman may keep the jewelry. He said the dowry enables a woman to be financially independent after a divorce, regardless of how long the marriage lasted. He said this ruling is based on the rulings of Turkish courts.
The court said that the rationale of keeping a divorced woman from poverty is in accordance with the German constitution. A spokesperson did not rule out that the ruling would have been different for a similar dispute between Germans.
