Canada: Refugee

CANADA — After Raghda Aldndal’s husband Mohamad Rafia, 54, beat her so badly with a hockey stick that she needed medical attention, Canadian police immediately arrested her husband who is a Syrian refugee.

Reportedly, Rafia was mystified by the charges, because beating one’s wife is not only an acceptable practice in Syria, it’s actually mandated in the Qur’an:

“Men have authority over women because Allah has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because Allah has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them.” — Qur’an 4:34

Muhammad “struck me on the chest which caused me pain, and then said: Did you think that Allah and His Apostle would deal unjustly with you?” — Aisha (Sahih Muslim 2127)

During a May 24 bail hearing, Rafia’s interpreter explained to the court, “He’s saying that he was not aware of the law and he was coming from a background where the laws are completely different.”

“Why didn’t they explain the law when we first came?” Rafia asked.  Smiling, Rafia told the court that he is innocent, because immigration officials never told him that it’s illegal to beat one’s wife in Canada. However, that line of reasoning didn’t get him very far when it was revealed that the refugee really was told that there are Canadian laws specifically against domestic violence.

With angry welts all over her body, Aldndal proceeded to defend her husband, telling officials that such abuse is “culturally accepted” in Syria. “Aldndal stated that being assaulted by her spouse is culturally accepted from the country they are from,” the Fredericton brief police stated.

According to her testimony, Aldndal said that Rafia often beat her, and on May 18, he threatened to kill her if she ever left him. She initially claimed that the injuries came from falling in the bathtub after a family friend took her to Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital, which reported her extensive injuries to authorities.

Rafia pleaded guilty on May 26 to causing bodily harm and uttering threats.

The police report falsely says that all domestic abuse is illegal in Syria and that “if the aggressor is caught, they will go to jail.” However, while domestic violence without just cause is punishable, Sharia law states that violence against women by husbands or fathers for disobedience or defiance is justified, and there is no punishment. Syrian women are not typically granted divorces from abusive husbands; Sharia courts usually force reconciliation.