US Court blocks long distance triple talaq

A Muslim tries to pull a long-distance triple talaq and rightly gets shot down by a US Court.

Assuming philosophical reforms are made to make the traditional institutions responsive to the needs of a radically different–and in some respects almost unrecognizably so–world from that of the early Muslims, I believe shariah continues to have an important role to play for Western Muslims.

The un-Quranic and far too easily abused triple talaq, however, has no place as a universal practice in that new order, as far as I’m concerned.

Glad to see the quote from ISNA showing how Muslim leaders respect America’s legal tradition and are committed to rule of law and due process. Sharia does not absolve a Muslim of the obligation to obey local laws. (And in my book the principles cited by the judge is as “Islamic” as they come.)

Interesting to see how this underhanded move was resorted to by an elite, wealthy, highly educated and presumably otherwise extremely cosmopolitan man (i.e., a senior official at the World Bank, as opposed to rickshaw walla), seemingly to avoid giving his wife her fair share of “his” wealth. So much for class and breeding as a protection against male abuse of power.

Court denies Islamic divorce — — baltimoresun.com

Saying “I divorce thee” three times, as men in Muslim countries have been able to do for centuries when leaving their wives, is not enough if you’re a resident of Maryland, the state’s highest court ruled yesterday.

Yesterday, the Court of Appeals rejected a Pakistani man’s argument that his invocation of the Islamic talaq, under which a marriage is dissolved simply by the husband’s say-so, allowed him to part with his wife of more than 20 years and deny her a share of his $2 million estate.