Sharia doesn’t keep the plane in the air

Written by

July 18, 2026

A plane passenger allegedly invoked Islam’s strict Sharia law to avoid sitting next to a woman – then assaulted a female flight attendant who tried to smooth it out, according to reports.

The passenger – only identified as a 29-year-old Turkish migrant living in Germany – was arrested when his June 1 flight landed in Dusseldorf, Bild reported Thursday.

“According to initial witness statements, the man invoked Sharia law and refused to sit next to a woman,” a police spokesperson told Bild, referring to Islam’s strict codes.

When a female flight attendant tried to speak to him about it, the irate passenger punched or slapped her in the face, the report said.

Sorry, bub, that’s not something you can do. Airlines don’t have to obey your religion.

Comments

4 responses to “Sharia doesn’t keep the plane in the air”

Freemage

Jul 18, 2026 12:43 PM

I wonder if anyone offered to move HIM to a worse seat on the plane, and he refused. After all, if you go to the far back reaches of the plane, and ask, “Are there any female passengers who would like to be moved forward?”, I’m sure you’d get several takers.
Sonderval

Jul 18, 2026 11:49 PM

About 30 years ago I was in a flight to Israel where an orthodox Jew made a similar complaint. The Stewardess then asked the Woman next to him whether she was willing to move. Even back then I wondered why it wasn’t the man complaining who should move.

The women complied of course…
Rob

Jul 19, 2026 7:10 PM

Sonderval, there have been quite a number of reports of that happening in the last few years. The reports often come in clusters which make me wonder if it’s a case of these things come in waves, or if it’s just ongoing and occasionally the media bother to report it.

My preference would be that the men who behave like this are given the choice of a seat down the back or being off loaded. If they behave in an obnoxious way the airline should refuse to carry them again.
Holms

Jul 20, 2026 11:03 AM

Funny how touching a woman is bad and shaming or whatever for the man, but not if he is angry and wants to hurt her.