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OMG We’re Divorced: Saudi Court Allows Divorce By Text Message

A court in Saudi Arabia has ruled that an angry text message sent by a husband to his wife proclaiming himself divorced is binding. The man said he was just mad and did not mean it but the wife was thrilled and insisted that she was now free. The Court agreed that the SMS is a binding divorce in the Kingdom.

As the article below notes, this is not the first such Islamic divorce attempted by text message. However, in Malaysia, an Islamic court fined a politician for attempting such a SMS divorce. The words must be uttered in an Islamic court.

For those Saudi spouses looking to minimize time in texting divorces, here are a few short but binding messages.

FWIW We’re Divorced

OT I’m now single.

LYLAS but not as a wife

Source: Emirates

Jonathan Turley

9 thoughts on “OMG We’re Divorced: Saudi Court Allows Divorce By Text Message”

  1. Ya don’t say….that easy huh. I am sure the ABA does not like this approach…

  2. SAw a comedian once doing a funny routine:
    “That’s the way it was in the Old Country – the husband ruled the house, his word was the law and his wife musty obey.
    That probably goes a long way to explain why so many husbands died in the sleep in the old country . . . from blunt force trauma!”

    Crude but, having grown up with an abuser I found it humorous.

  4. “You know, it was much simpler in the old country. You just say to a girl, ‘I break with thee, I break with thee, I break with thee’ and then you throw dog poop on her shoes.” – Steve Martin

  5. It would be nice if it worked the other way around. “By the way, we’re married.”
    Which is arguably what happens to girls in arranged marriages.

  7. Frank, Also gold jewelry is referred to as ‘Widow’s wealth” in many cultures.

  8. Ever wonder where the Western tradition of a diamond engagement ring came from? It was a woman’s insurance policy against complete poverty in the event her husband disowned her. Since they were forbidden, until relatively recent times, from owning property they needed light, portable, easy to exchange property they could keep with them.

  9. I guess you don’t know how Muslims do divorce according to the Koran. All that has to be done is for the husband to declare (three times) “I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you”.

    Or however it is said in Arabic. Or Sudanese. Or whatever the language of Muslims these days.

    No lawyers needed. LOL

    I’m serious. This is Muslim law for 1400 years. Three times. Done. Finis. Kaput.

    She gets what wealth she brought with her (if there is any left).

    The kids go to dad.

    This was no liberal or benevolent stretch for the Saudis government–committed to the most perverse treatment of women and children.

    Natural ally to the Bush family, of course.

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