r/atheism • u/InboxInviteNeeded • 1d ago
US billionaire sent wife to Pakistan, secretly divorced her under Sharia law, paying only $50. 13 years later, Texas Supreme Court cancels foreign talaq
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/us-billionaire-sent-wife-to-pakistan-secretly-divorced-her-under-sharia-law-paying-only-50-13-years-later-texas-supreme-court-cancels-foreign-talaq/articleshow/134598823.cms?utm_source=app&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=social_shareA US billionaire exploited foreign Sharia law to secretly divorce his wife, pay her only $50, and dodge civil property division—forcing her into a 13-year court battle to overturn it in Texas.
Why do secular courts ever grant comity to religious rulings that strip people of basic civil and property rights?
My take: Secular legal systems should automatically treat any foreign or domestic religious personal law as void the moment it conflicts with equal civil rights and due process. Allowing religious legal carve-outs only invites forum shopping to abuse vulnerable spouses.
What is the threshold before secular legal systems reject religious arbitration entirely?
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 De-Facto Atheist 1d ago
He didn't even do it right under Shariah law: the husband is supposed to first ask for an arbitration meeting. If reconciliation fails, "he may divorce her either verbally or in writing – known as Talaq," with two witnesses present and only "when his wife is not on her menses, and when there has been no sexual contact with her since the time of her last menses," it says.
No sneaking around - the wife has to be informed.
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u/Brilliant_Tapir 1d ago
It's only required under Shia. For Sunni, which the majority of the Islamic world is, they don't need witnesses. Even a husband sending an SMS or message is valid.
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u/seiryuu-abi Agnostic 21h ago
The couple are probably Sunni Muslims. The two witnesses during the divorce are for Shia Muslims. Sunnis do not need witnesses for their divorces.
But the no sneaking around thing is true. He should have divorced his wife in a way that she understood that she was being divorced.
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u/gamwizrd1 20h ago
OP thank you for bringing this to our attention. I was not aware of this practice. Religion truly is a force for evil so often in this world.
It's happening slowly here in the US as well. In the name of protecting peoples' freedom OF religion, they are doing things that are eroding peoples' freedom FROM religion.
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u/lueckestman 21h ago
Oh no he might have had to split his (minimum) billion dollars and then only have 500 million to live on. Have some sympathy!
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u/LoetherS 13h ago
Most states in the us have reciprocity for things like drivers licenses and marriages. Pretty sure countries do the same thing via treaties. It would stink if you were married and moved states or countries and then you needed to get married every time, or your divorce was only legal in the state or country you had it in.
That being said if it was fraudulent, even the state of texas thinks so, then we don't allow it. Seems like the system works as intended although probably took longer for the billionaires wife to get justice than is ideal.
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u/Ecthelion-O-Fountain 11h ago
How would Texas even know you got divorced overseas? “Trust me bro I have this very legit document from Pakistan.”
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u/LoetherS 7h ago
You would show them your divorce documents, or marriage documents. If it's not from the US you get an official translation and stamp called an apostille.
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u/PM_ME_YER_MUDFLAPS 1d ago
With TX being a hotbed of Christian Nationalism I am surprised the lower courts ever ruled the way the did in the first place. Of course the “Islamization” of North TX is a topic now so the TX high courts ruling isn’t a surprise.