Saudi Arabia - e-divorces

Divorces Get on Fast Track With E-Communication

Living in a high-tech world, many husbands have opted for new ways of divorcing their wives rather than confronting problems head on through discussion and dialogue.

Jawhara, a divorcee, said that she received a message on her mobile phone from her husband that read, “Pack your things and go to your family before I return, you’re divorced.”

Jawhara promptly telephoned her brother, asking him to pick her up. He, however, asked her to wait for her husband and ask him why he had divorced her. “I stayed and when he came he repeated what he said. I told him that I was off to my family and that he should keep his children,” she said.

A week later, Jawhara’s husband said he wanted to get back together and that he had made a mistake. “It took me time to accept but I did in the end after he admitted to a judge that he had made a mistake,” she said.

Munira Asaad was faced with a similar situation when her husband asked her, through an SMS message, to take their children and leave home. “At first I thought it was a joke. But when he came home he hit me and asked me to leave. I refused to leave the house saying it was mine and my children’s,” said Munira, adding that instead her husband left. A week later he returned and said he wanted to get back together.

“I refused. He made this decision based on wrong information, which he got from his sister-in-law. His actions show that he doesn’t trust me. Why should I take him back?” she said.

Suad woke up one morning to find a text message reading, “I divorce you. Go back to your family.” Suad was left shocked and could not believe what she saw. “There was no problem between us. I called him but he did not answer,” she said.

When her husband returned from his trip, he told her that he divorced her because one of his friends had not accepted an invitation to dinner. He had sworn that he would divorce his wife if his friend did not accept his invitation.

Suad said she went to her room, packed her stuff and left. “I asked my children to come with me. After two weeks he came back and urged me to return. He told me that he hadn’t registered the divorce in court,” said Saud, adding that she agreed to go back after her husband promised to be careful with such issues.

Commenting on the issue, Ahmed Al-Muhaimid, a lawyer, said in a report carried by the Al-Riyadh newspaper that text-message divorces take effect even if a husband does not verbally pronounce his intention. He added that such divorces take place even without the women knowing about it.

He urged couples to be careful while dealing with such a serious issue as divorce. He called on officials to question the conditions for such divorces, the causes and the real intentions who do them.

Al-Muhaimid also said that it was important to ensure messages are actually sent by husband and not by third parties.