Divorce Through Modern Means of Communication and Related Fatāwā of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Divorce is the most delicate and critical matter of family law that dissolves the bond of marriage. Regarding divorce people face many problems that they want to solve in the light of al- Qurʼān and Sunnah, but unfortunately, many people do not know how to do it due to having lack of knowledge about Islam and its teachings, so to solve these issues, they go to a learned and knowledgeable person, known as Muftī, who tells them the solution to their problems according to the teachings of al- Qurʼān and Sunnah. As today’s era is called modern era and in this modern era there have been many modern inventions due to which the world has become a ‘Global Village’. In today’s time, such inventions have come into existence with the help of which people can talk with their loved ones in a few minutes and not only can send messages to them but can also see them directly. Some of these inventions are Mobile phone, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Messenger etc. Modern means of communication is also recognized in Saudi Arabia and its use is also very common there, so people also use these means for divorce. The present study explores divorce through modern means of communication in the context of Fatāwā. The Fatāwā issued by the Muftīs of Saudi Arabia are consulted to know whether divorce through modern means of communication is valid or not and the circumstances under which divorce can take place or not will also be highlighted.

Keywords: Fatāwā, Muftīs, Divorce, Modern means of communication.