From the Canadian Press, Jan. 25, 2007 (via Daniel Pipes and David Bernstein):
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…. The Crown has asked for a seven-year sentence, citing the refusal to grant the Shariah divorce as an aggravating factor.
Of course, a secular Canadian divorce is all that’s needed for secular purposes, in Canada and in other non-Muslim countries. But the article suggests that without a religious divorce, the wife might still be seen as married in some Muslim countries; and my sense (though please correct me if I’m mistaken) is that she might also be seen as married by the Muslim community, so that, for instance, there would be social pressure against her remarrying.
Should such extra punishment for failure to perform a religious ceremony be permitted? Or does it improperly coerce religious behavior? In the U.S., similar questions have arisen with regard to “Get laws,” though these are special civil laws limiting access to divorce rather than enhanced criminal punishments.
Under Jewish law, at least as understood by many Jews, a civil divorce decree isn