O’ Layla, where art thou?

Page 11
Q-News, Issue 362
April 2005

Naseeb.com, Zawaj.com, MuslimMarriageJunction.com - cyberspace is bustling with Muslims in search of true love and a happily-ever-after. Sadly, technology can go awry. AFP reports the strange affair of Bakr and Sanaa Melham which began when the couple, separated for several months, began surfing Internet chat rooms for some halal love (no doubt keeping their options open if their marriage eventually didn’t work out). Under the pseudonym “Jamila”, Sanaa met “Adnan” - by all accounts a dashing Amman bachelor with whom she shared a great deal in common. They soon fell in love, but they never met face to face contenting themselves with online conversation, e-mail messages of affection and, eventually, drawing up plans for a wedding. They finally agreed to meet at the local bus depot. This should have been a You’ve Got Mail moment with a perfect Hollywood ending (can you imagine the box office returns to whoever got hold of the rights), but alas such fairy tale endings only happen on the silver screen.  The promising romance came to an abrupt end when the two discovered they were actually husband and wife. Discovering their true identities at their first, and last, rendezvous, Bakr aka Adnan enraged by the “deception” ended their marriage shouting, “You are divorced, divorced, divorced.” It was all too much for poor Jamila, err, Sanaa, who called him a liar and fainted.

In other marriage dissolution news, SMS text messaging has become the latest mode of declaring divorce. Last June, an Emirates citizen sparked legal confusion by divorcing his wife by text message writing, “Why are you late? You are divorced.” More recently, Gulf News reported that a pilot in his 30s sent a divorce message to his wife, who had taken their three-year old daughter for a haircut against his will. “The wife contacted marriage counsellors and showed them photos, claiming she only had the hair trimmed and did not get it cut that much. She stressed that her daughter’s appearance changed very little.” Dubai officials are trying to patch things up. In Malaysia, the government has intervened after the Prime Minister’s religious advisor endorsed text message divorce but the government says it will now consider increasing fines and jail sentences for men who pronounce declaration of divorce by electronic means, such as e-mail, fax or text message.

Ah, yet another modern dilemma for our fuqaha. Wonder if they’ll be delivering their fatwas by text as well.