Mohammed Enait

Mohammed Faizel Ali Enait (* 1975/1976) is a Surinamese- Dutch lawyer . He became known nationwide when he sued the municipality of Rotterdam in 2006 after a rejected application and when he refused to stand up in court in 2009.

Career

Enait, who comes from Surinam, finished his studies at the Erasmus University Rotterdam in 2008 with the thesis Terrornoia: how the propa-ugandists used the omni-territorialization of terror for the fundamen-talismanization of criminal law in a multi-cultus-ritualistic society . In the same year he won an essay prize from the social democratic Wiardi Beckman Foundation.

Job Interview

In September 2005, Enait wanted to become a customer manager at the Rotterdam municipality and made it clear during the interview that he refuses to shake hands with women. He justified this with his Islamic belief. He complained to the Equal Treatment Commission, which agreed that the community had to investigate whether there were other ways to greet someone. The commission criticized Enait for making a distinction between men and women; since then he hasn't shook hands with men either. Enait finally went to court, but the community was right. According to the judge in August 2008, the municipality can expect that the usual forms of courtesy in the Netherlands are observed. Enait commented on the judgment as typical of a white judge, a peasant judgment from a judge from a peasant hole.

Stay seated in court

After graduating from college, Enait was sworn in as a lawyer in August 2008. However, he remained seated when the judges entered the room. He argued that, as a Muslim, he was not allowed to stand up for judges because of the equality of all people. Getting up is not a legal requirement, but the public prosecutor saw the bar association's rules of conduct as violated. A disciplinary department of the court agreed with Enait. He doesn't have to get up if his faith forbids him to do so.

The case preoccupied Parliament in September 2008 and later. "Everybody is equal. That also applies to this gentleman, ”said the Christian Democrat Sybrand van Haersma Buma, and the right-wing liberal Henk Kamp spoke of cultural relativism that has been taken to extremes. The Vice President of the Amsterdam Court, however, Peter Ingelse, said in a personal comment that Enait should sit still. Welcoming rituals are unimportant and it is rather improper to force someone to stand up contrary to his belief.

The Leiden law professor Jan Michiel Otto spoke to colleagues in Islamic countries and learned that lawyers everywhere stand up when the judges come in. If behavior like Enait's is viewed as improper or illegal in the Islamic world, lawyer Enait puts himself outside of any social and legal order, says Otto.

Communication professor Youssef Azghari called Enait a clownish lawyer who abused Islam to justify his childish behavior and his self-made rituals.

In May 2015, Enait's bar license was withdrawn. The reasons were Enait's behavior as a lawyer. This included an inflated fee and the pressure Enait put on a client to pay that bill.

supporting documents

1. ↑ Writings by Mohammed Enait  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last visited on September 28, 2015.  
2. ↑ NOS: Niet-handen-schudder in het gelijk gesteld by Commissie Gelijke Treatment , last seen on December 20, 2009.
3. ↑ NOVA: Gemeente in gelijk bij afwijzen sollicitant ( Memento of the original dated November 14, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last seen on December 20, 2009. 
4. ↑ Elsevier: Enait, de handweigeraar en klantmanager !? , last seen on December 20, 2009.
5. ↑ NRC: Kamer valt over zittende advocaat ( Memento of the original from May 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last seen on December 20, 2009. 
6. ↑ NRC: Laat Enait toch lekker zitten ( Memento of the original from May 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last seen on December 20, 2009. 
7. ↑ NRC: Ook moslims staan ​​op voor rechtsers ( Memento of the original from June 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last seen on December 20, 2009. 
8. ↑ Trouw: Clownadvocaat Enait is een irritante hork , last seen on December 20, 2009.
9. ↑ Overheid.nl ( Memento of the original September 28, 2015 Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.