Saturday, July 26, 2003
You can divorce through SMS in Malaysia
Reuters Kuala Lumpur, July 26
Malaysian Muslim men can divorce their wives through text messages on mobile telephones, the New Straits Times daily reported on Saturday, quoting a religious adviser to the government.
Hamid Othman, adviser to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, said divorce via SMS or short messaging service was in accordance with Sharia law if it was clear and unambiguous.
"SMS is just another form of writing," the daily quoted Hamid as saying, following an Islamic court decision on Thursday that ruled in favour of a man who served divorce on his wife using SMS.
Islamic law permits a man to divorce his wife by declaring "I divorce you" three times.
© Hindustan Times Ltd. 2003. Reproduction in any form is prohibited without prior permission