Aleem v. Aleem (Md. Ct. App. 2008)

FACTS:

Petitioner: Husband Respondent: Wife

Married in Pakistan according to Islamic law. The couple moved to the U.S.

Twenty years later the wife filed for divorce in Maryland. The husband went to the

Pakistani Embassy and divorced his wife through triple ṭalāq (Islamic divorce)*.

He then argued division of marital property should be handled under Islamic law, as

their marriage contract had been. The wife would have no right to any property. The

wife argued it should be handled under American law, and should be split equally.

*In triple ṭalāq, only the husband has the right to divorce by saying ” ṭalāq” (‘divorce’) three times.

Overview:

Husband’s Reasoning:

1) Marriage took place under Islamic

law.

2) Triple ṭalāq completes an

irrevocable Islamic divorce.

3) Therefore Maryland courts, which

are not Islamic, have no

jurisdiction over the divorce

proceedings, including division of

property.

Wife’s Reasoning:

1) They lived in the U.S., and the

marriage is being dissolved in

U.S. courts.

2) U.S. Courts divide marital

property according to state

procedures.

3) ∴ No

Although the Islamic marriage contract “specifically did not provide for

the division of property, and thus the Maryland court would not have

been prohibited from dividing marital property as it saw fit, all this was

irrelevant.

All this was irrelevant because ṭalāq denied the wife due

process. This wholly conflicts with state and federal law.

∴ The Maryland Court would not give credence to the

Pakistani Islamic statutes.

“The Pakistani statutes are wholly in conflict with the public

policy of this State as expressed in our statutes and we shall afford no

comity to those Pakistani statutes.”

Triple ṭalāq , also known as ṭalāq al-ba’in, is an irrevocable

form of divorce initiated by men in classical Islamic

law…This form of ṭalāq has been particularly contested in

Indian courts as it traditionally requires no rationale at all for

the divorce, and it can be effected very easily through the

mere verbal pronunciation of talaq three times.“

”-Akhila Kolisetty, India Editor at SHARIAsource, “Unilateral Talaq and the Indian Supreme Court’s Responsiveness to Perceptions within India’s Muslim Community,” SHARIAsource.

Located at Harvard Law School, SHARIAsource is a team of

advisors, scholars, and editors dedicated to providing content and context

on Islamic law in a collective mission to organize the world’s information on Islamic

law in a way that is accessible and useful.