A Dubai court is set to judge the legality of a divorce conducted by e-mail, said the Gulf News Daily Thursday.
In what is believed to be the first case of its kind, a husband notified his wife that he was divorcing her by sending e-mail to her computer.
The husband, who is of Arab origin but holds American nationality, officially registered the divorce by filing a case with the Personal Status Court in Dubai, the daily added.
Dr. Mahmoud Abdul Mutjalli, Chief Scholar in the Dubai Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Department, was quoted by the daily as saying that according to the Shafi and Hanbali schools of Islamic law, the husband must utter the divorce to his wife in order for it to occur.
But the Maliki interpretation, which is followed in Dubai, states that divorce is permitted by just referring it to the wife and not necessarily by saying it in person, he said.
The court will review the case and may call the wife, a Saudi national, to appear in court to be verbally notified of the divorce, the daily said.
The couples were living separately in two villas in the same area of Dubai when the husband sent the message to his wife, said AFP Thursday - (Several Sources)
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