Saudi man divorces wife by text message

[superconnected]

Source: Reuters

"RIYADH (Reuters) – A Saudi man has divorced his wife by text message, a newspaper said on Thursday."

"Saudi Arabia practises a strict form of Islamic Sharia law, and clerics preside over Sharia courts as judges. Under the law a man can divorce his wife by saying "I divorce you" three times.

The Saudi man was in Iraq to participate in "what he described as 'jihad'," according to the Arab News. Many Saudis have gone to fight with al Qaeda militants against the Iraqi government and U.S. forces."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090409/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_s...

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Not sure if anyone posted this already. I did check for a dupe.

[superconnected]

1. The government legally recognized it in court, the article says.

[Neo Atheist]

23. the government also recognized a 75 year old woman should get the shit beaten out of her

for having some guys bring her bread to her house.

She's also spending four months in a Saudi jail, which I suspect is worse than spending time in any non-Gitmo American jail, and then getting deported. The Saudi government and these backwards right wing sexist religious assholes are in bed together more than the GOP and the evangelical community here, of course they'll recognize the ruling.

[MercutioATC]

2. I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you.

If only it was that easy here...

[XemaSab]

19. Mercutio,

I divorce you, I divorce you, I divorce you.

Oh, wait, we were never married in the first place.

Sorry.

[MercutioATC]

24. See, nobody wants me...

[XemaSab]

25. .

[No Elephants]

42. You're wrong. Lots of women out there have low self esteem. Just keep looking!

[MercutioATC]

46. Ouch!

Well played

[monmouth]

3. I should have been so lucky.....sigh....n/t

[Hissyspit]

4. Steve Martin: I break with thee, I break with thee, I break with thee.

...and then throw dog poop on her shoes.

[mikeytherat]

31. Then my brothers and I, we go to the swinging discotheque, and look for the girls

with dog poop on their shoes. "Oh, I notice you have a little dog poopy on your shoes."

mikey_the_rat

[ohio2007]

5. LOL ? He couldn't have even "phoned it in " ? nt

[MichiganVote]

6. Real Romeo's in that country. Why would any woman choose these guys?

[rox63]

7. Choice? What choice?

It's considered a crime in Saudi Arabia for a woman to be seen with any man who is not her husband or a family member. She has no choice about who she marries.

[crikkett]

15. thick eyelashes? n/t

[peoli]

8. If we had that law here it would make things so much easier.

[santamargarita]

9. Why didn't he just Twitter?

[JCMach1]

27. Because you can't stay 10ft behind someone when you follow them on Twitter-

so it's haram

[Withywindle]

40. You know why Afghani women stay 10 paces behind their husbands, right?

because of land mines.

[aquart]

10. Could she have divorced him the same way?

[AndyTiedye]

12. no

[Neo Atheist]

21. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

She couldn't have divorced him period. This is Shar'ia law, which is about as enlightened as John Calhoun's views on slavery.

[Alamuti Lotus]

26. theoretically yes

though this particular ruling is unlawful according to tradition; the Prophet(pbuh) forbade it as a pagan pratice (a successor revived as a matter of personal convenience, unfortunately made a precedent to some), the other Sunni madhabs generally disapprove, Shias believe it pagan and heretical, and I think only Saudi Arabian qadis will recognize the occurrance, though to my knowledge it must be spaced out over a course of several weeks, with witnesses, and probably not by text message. Deobandi maulvis in India also uphold the practice, I think I read not long ago about some guy who uttered that in his sleep (or drunk? maybe both) and it was actually enforced.

[crim son]

32. Good, informative post.

Thanks.

[Alamuti Lotus]

47. which makes it thoroughly out of place, I know....

I should have said: GODDAMN MUDSLIMES! EVIL1!!1!!! EVIL! USA! KILL! KILL!!!!!111!!!!

But, alas..

[Barack_America]

11. I'm reminded of Sex and the City and the Post-It note.

What a tool.

[mitchum]

13. Text message? Those dirtbags really like to pick and choose their "traditions", don't they?

[No Elephants]

43. See, they ddidn't hate us because of our freedoms. It was our cell phones!

[Baby Snooks]

14. He must be a friend of the Bushes....

Neil Bush sort of divorced Sharon Bush the same way although he just sort of notified her of his "change of address" by email.

[undeterred]

16. So did he send her the text message 3 times?

[wickerwoman]

28. The Sharia Emily post should weigh in...

Is it tacky to say it three times in the same text or should you really spring for three different texts? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Revolution9]

17. from what i understand...

in wahabism you only have to tell your wife 3 times you want a divorce.
so you just say "i divorce you, i divorce you, i divorce you." and poof!
all done!
reminds me of beetlejuice except ....ya know with divorce.

[Mz Pip]

18. Better than

having her stoned on some trumped up charge of infidelity. I'll take the text message any day.

Divorce by text message is so much more palatable than even what my son went through trying to get a divorce in NY State. What a nightmare that was.

[XemaSab]

20. So WHY are we at war with Iraq and Afghanistan but not Saudi?

These crazy fools are the REAL enemy.

All the wiseass comments upthread notwithstanding, a divorced woman there is a piece of garbage.

What, she was alone with her nephew? She didn't cover her face in the presence of her brother-in-law? She didn't want him to take a fourth wife? She squirmed while he beat her?

They're as bad as the Taliban.

[condoleeza]

29. Good question. n/t

[Neo Atheist]

22. 21st century technology meets 7th century practices regarding women

Gotta love our "friends" the Saudis. I wonder when this poor woman gets flogged and imprisoned.

[woo me with science]

30. Better than cutting her head off. nt

[KansDem]

33. A "Dear Ex" text!

I think we should try that here. And make it available to both parties involved!

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

34. I guess it saves on the lawyers' fees, LOL

[SomeGuyInEagan]

35. Newt Gringrich fumes ... "Why didn't I think of that?!" (n/t)

[Endangered Specie]

39. oooh ZING

[No Elephants]

44. In a related story, Gingrich, a recent convert to Catholicism, converts to Islam.

[happyslug]

36. Some background Articles on Islam and Divorce, technically NOT as easy as stated above.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/mohd.htm

http://www.submission.org/women/divorce.html
Reflects the situation that a man MUST provide a home for any wife he has, if he has four wives, he must maintain four homes. Furthermore the Divorced wife GETS TO LIVE IN THE HOME PROVIDED FOR HER EVEN AFTER A DIVORCE.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talaq_ (Nikah)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_talaq

http://home.swipnet.se/islam/articles/divorce.htm

[No Elephants]

45. I'd take those with a grain of couscous.

[damntexdem]

37. And some claim that Saudi Arabia is stuck in the Middle Ages. What a refutation!

(sarcasm)

[Endangered Specie]

38. Heck I'm suprised those people havent invented a cell phone that would cut the head off of its user.

call it a bE-Heading

[No Elephants]

41. Curious: What does a divorced Saudi woman do to survive? Remarriage is unlikely when you are

neither a virgin nor 17 anymore. She can't get a decent job (no pun intended) or even drive.