--- description: Two Muslim boys have seen their application for citizenship suspended, following their refusal to shake hands with their female teachers title: Muslim 'Handshake Controversy' Divides Switzerland image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Muslim Teens Have Swiss Citizenship Applications Halted for Refusing to Shake Women's Hands by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 20, 2016 6:33 AM CUT by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 20, 2016 6:33 AM CUT Two Muslim boys in Switzerland saw their application for citizenship [suspended](https://www.yahoo.com/news/switzerland-halts-citizenship-process-muslim-students-family-135551101.html "undefined") on Tuesday, following their refusal to shake hands with their female teachers on religious grounds. The two brothers, ages 14 and 15, told authorities in the town of Therwil in the country’s North that their religion prohibited physical contact with members of the opposite sex that were not family, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. Education officials originally exempted them from the Swiss tradition of students shaking hands with their teachers, but told them to also refrain from doing so with male teachers in order to avoid gender discrimination. However, AFP says, several politicians objected to the exemption and the matter became a subject of national debate, with Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga saying that “shaking hands is part of \[Swiss\] culture.” Authorities in Basel-Country, within which Therwil is situated, confirmed the suspension but said it was a fairly common occurrence, as authorities often seek additional information about families applying for naturalization. The boys’ father was granted asylum from Syria in 2001 and works as an imam in Basel. Just over 4% of Switzerland’s 8 million-strong population is Muslim. \[[_AFP_](https://www.yahoo.com/news/switzerland-halts-citizenship-process-muslim-students-family-135551101.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4300399/switzerland-muslim-citizenship-shaking-hands-female/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4300399/switzerland-muslim-citizenship-shaking-hands-female/"},"headline":"Muslim Teens Have Swiss Citizenship Applications Halted for Refusing to Shake Women's Hands","datePublished":"2016-04-20T06:33:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:53:28.041Z","description":"The boys told education officials that shaking hands with women outside the family is against their faith","url":"https://time.com/4300399/switzerland-muslim-citizenship-shaking-hands-female/","keywords":["Muslim","Switzerland","female","Teachers","boys","citizenship"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4300399/switzerland-muslim-citizenship-shaking-hands-female/","name":"Muslim Teens Have Swiss Citizenship Applications Halted for Refusing to Shake Women's Hands"}}]}] ```