NAJRAN, 16 February 2007 — A court in the southern Saudi city of Al-Aareda decided that it is indeed OK for a man to divorce his wife via a mobile phone text message, as long as he admits later that he indeed sent the message, the daily Al-Watan reported yesterday. A wife filed a lawsuit against her husband after he sent her a text message declaring that he wanted a divorce because he was tired of always having to hang out with his wife’s boring sisters all the time. Ali Ibn Sahyban Hassan Al-Aamery, the head of Jizan court, said that the judge in the case ruled that the declaration to divorce could be sent by text message as long as the husband stands by this declaration if challenged. Under Islamic law, a man can divorce his wife if he declares it three times. Apparently, a judge in Jizan thinks text-messaging works just as well.