A German provincial court in the European country of Germany has ruled that a Lebanese-born Muslim doctor should not be granted citizenship as punishment for not shaking hands with a non-mahram woman.
According to the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), a court in the German state of Barten Whitmberg ruled on October 17 at the request of a 40-year-old Lebanese doctor.
Although the court did not explicitly say that the Lebanese-born Muslim doctor should not be granted German citizenship, the court said that the man should not be granted citizenship because he did not shake hands with the woman.
The petition was filed in the court by a Lebanese doctor, who was denied citizenship in 2015 by a court in the city of Stuttgart, the capital of Barton Whitmberg.
A Stuttgart court had denied citizenship to a Muslim doctor as punishment for not shaking hands with a woman, on which he had approached a provincial court, but the provincial court also upheld the city court's decision.
The Lebanese-born Muslim doctor told the court he did not shake hands with men or women because of his religion, but the court refused to accept his remarks.
The man also told the court that he was already married and had promised his wife that he would not shake hands with any non-mahram woman.
After studying medicine in Germany, the doctor started working there and in 2012 he applied for German citizenship.
The man also met all the other requirements for obtaining German citizenship and passed the natural living test with good marks, including staying away from extremism.
However, in 2015, when a female officer was handing him a German citizenship certificate during a ceremony, he refused to shake hands with a non-mahram woman.
The woman who gave the certificate had refused to give the certificate to the Lebanese doctor due to non-shaking hands, on which the said person had approached the court but the civil court had ruled against her.
The man had approached the provincial court after the city court ruled against him, but the provincial court also ruled against him.
At the same time, the provincial court told the man that he could appeal to the federal court against the court's decision.
The provincial court ruled against the man who refused to shake hands with a non-mahram woman, saying that shaking hands is German culture and that one of the purposes of the process is to reach an agreement between the two parties.
The court said that the act of shaking hands has nothing to do with the gender of any person, in a way it also indicates consent to the fulfillment of legal and ethical agreements.
It is thought the man will now appeal to a German federal court, but his application is likely to be rejected, as he has hugged a non-mahram woman in several European countries, including Germany. Installation is also not considered defective.
