Malaysia's new trend: Divorce by phone text message

Malaysia's new trend: Divorce by phone text message

Religion vs. technology: Malaysia's divorce by phone text message
raises questions about Islam in the modern world[

Rohan Sullivan, Associated Press, Kuala Lumpur

After a quarrel with her husband, a young wife flees back to her
mother and he fumes from outside: "If you don't leave your
parents' house, you will be divorced".

This text message delivered from his mobile phone to hers was
more than just a cry of frustration. Under Islamic law, it was
enough to start formal proceedings that eventually annulled the
18-month marriage -- the cyberspace equivalent of serving divorce
papers.

A Malaysian religious court's ruling last week that the text
message was a valid notice of intent to divorce caused a furor in
this Southeast Asian country. Experts say it also underscores the
difficult problem of how to make Islam's sacred and age-old
traditions jibe with the modern world.

As computers, mobile phones and other gadgets increasingly
become part of people's lives, Islam's guardians are being asked
to interpret how new technology applies to the Shariah, or
religious law, set out in the Koran, Islam's holy book.

Recent rulings in several countries on divorce are an example.
Divorce is allowed -- though discouraged -- in Islam.
Interpretations vary, but it is generally accepted that a Muslim
husband has divorced his wife if he announces his intention to do
so to her and the decision is ratified by a cleric. For a wife to
divorce a husband, however, the process is far more difficult.

When the Koran was written more than 2,500 years ago, few
options would have existed but for a face-to-face meeting between
husband and wife or a handwritten declaration.

But in 2001, in the United Arab Emirates, a phone text message
was accepted as a form of written declaration, prompting test
cases in other Muslim countries. In nearby Qatar, an Islamic
scholar decreed that divorce by Internet e-mail was OK. But in
Singapore, which has a large Muslim minority, religious
authorities disallowed phone text messages.

Dr. Patricia Martinez, an expert on women's role in Islam,
said the divorce debate isn't likely to shake Islam's
foundations, but is an example of how Islamic authorities need to
adapt its rules to new technology or risk losing relevance to
today's Muslims.

How technology mixes with Islam "is a dilemma for most Muslims
because Islam is essentially prescriptive, so there is a need for
guidance when one comes across a new way to be", said Martinez, a
senior research fellow at the University of Malaya's Asia-Europe
Institute.

Last week's ruling in Malaysia was the first time such a case
had reached the country's religious courts, which must approve
each pronouncement of talaq, or divorce, for it to become legal.

Ethnic Malay Muslims form about two-thirds of the roughly 23
million population, and moderate Islamic laws covering religious
and family issues coexist with Malaysia's secular constitution
and court system based on British law.

The combination bolsters long-time Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad's claim that the country is progressive and democratic,
but also pious. He says Malaysia as a model for other Islamic and
developing nations, a view U.S. President George W. Bush has said
he shares.

When the phone message ruling was first made, the government's
official religious adviser, Abdul Hamid Othman, initially did not
object, saying a phone text message was "just another form a
writing".

But Mahathir disapproved, saying "I think that if people want
to divorce their wives, they should resort to a much more
personal approach than that".

Officials quickly backtracked and announced a review of
religious divorce laws.

"Husbands should not be allowed to freely use SMS and other
easy methods such as e-mails, voicemail or even facsimile to
begin divorce proceedings," Abdul Hamid said.

On Friday, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is
due to succeed Mahathir when he retires later this year,
described divorce by phone message as in "bad taste" and urged
Malaysians not to misuse information and communications
technology, the Bernama national news agency reported.

"The government is not backward just because it does not allow
a husband and wife to divorce using the mobile telephone's short
messaging service," Abdullah was quoted as saying. "It is
unethical, unsuitable, can lead to lies and abuse."

The changes are not likely to meet much opposition - religious
mullahs in Malaysia have far less influence on legal matters than
in some other Islamic countries.