Dial-a-Divorce

Getting a quickie divorce has taken on a whole new meaning in Malaysia after it was decided that a man can divorce his wife with a text message.

The government's adviser on religious affairs, the man who counsels Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, said as long as the message was clear and unambiguous it was valid under Islamic Sharia law.

"SMS is just another form of writing," Dr Abdul Hamid Othman was quoted by the New Straits Times daily newspaper as saying. The decision follows a Malaysian court's ruling on Thursday in favour of a man who served divorce on his wife via a text message. . . under Islamic law men are allowed to divorce their wives simply be saying the word 'talaq' - I divorce you - three times.

From the BBC. The issue of divorce by phone is apparently not all that new, however:

Islamic officials in several countries have ruled on the use of mobile phone text messages and e-mail for divorce in recent years, as computers and wireless technology have become more widespread. Their decisions have varied.

In the United Arab Emirates, a phone text message was accepted as a form of written divorce, and divorce by e-mail was ruled acceptable in nearby Qatar.

In Singapore, however, religious authorities said phone text messages were unacceptable and could tarnish Islam's image.

Posted by David on July 30, 2003 9:39 PM