Muslim Doctor Who Refused To Shake Hands With A Woman Denied German Citizenship

A Lebanese Muslim man who has been living in Germany for the past 13 years and was on the brink of becoming a German citizen has been denied citizenship after he refused to shake hands with a woman who presented him with the certificate. 

The 39-year-old was completing his medical studies and passing a citizenship test with the highest possible mark. 

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But he failed the last step when he was supposed to shake hands with the woman who presented him with the certificate. 

Five years later, a court has backed their decision - saying the man's 'fundamentalist' views were at odds with his integration into German society. 

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The man moved to Germany back in 2002 and was settled there ever since. 10 years back he married a Syrian woman. 

To become a permanent citizen of Germany he starter working on his application in 2012 and signed the necessary paperwork vowing to uphold the constitution and reject extremism. 

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The court in Manheim, however, ruled that the handshake incident was not compatible with the constitution's guarantee of equality between men and women.  

'If the applicant refuses to shake hands for gender-specific reasons which are incompatible with the constitution, there is no integration into German living conditions,' they said. 

'This applies in particular if the refusal to shake hands with the opposite sex - as in this case - serves to further a Salafist conviction about the relationship between men and women.'

The Salafists, though make up only a tiny proportion of the country's Muslim population but Germany has always raised concern over fundamentalist Salafists.

The court said that 'The man's refusal to shake hands with the official came from a belief that women posed a 'threat of sexual temptation.'

Since the beginning of 2018, the man has stopped giving handshakes to everyone but the court dismissed this claim as a 'tactical' step to improve his chances of getting citizenship. 

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The court added that handshakes have deep roots in the Western world and are considered not only as a way of greeting or sharing pleasantries but is also considered a symbol of reaching an agreement. 

'Handshakes are common greeting and farewell rituals that take place regardless of the social status, gender or other personal characteristics of the people involved and go back centuries,' the judges said. 

The court added that other forms of greetings such as kissing and high-fives are also available, but they do not carry the same notion of formality and legal validity.

The judges also predicted that handshakes would withstand the coronavirus pandemic, in which physical touching has been kept to a minimum to reduce infections.  

The man can now appeal the decision to a federal court. 

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