New Delhi (AsiaNews/SCMP) - A Muslim woman whose husband in the US has divorced her by e-mail has thrown Islamic clerics and scholars in India into a spin.
A Muslim man must say talaq (I divorce you) three times or write it down. In this case, Rubab Anwar says her husband, Rahat Iqbal, sent her an e-mail from the United States. She was married to him in 1998 but barely a month afterwards he left for the US, promising to send her a visa soon. The visa never came, but the divorce e-mail landed in her inbox last week.
The story comes as clerics are discussing the validity of "instant" divorces, permitted in India but banned in many Muslim nations. Such a divorce allows a man to say talaq three times in one go, rather than over a three-month period.
"Triple talaq is very effective but the authenticity of the communications must be established because it is open to misuse," said Kalid Rashid, a member of a prominent Muslim religious body.
Ms Anwar plans to challenge the authenticity of the method. Some clerics sympathise, saying that since e-mails do not have signatures, she needs to call her husband to confirm that he sent the e-mail.
Malaysia has banned divorce by SMS, e-mail or fax.