Manama: A Saudi woman has divorced her husband five days into their marriage after she found out that he was not religiously committed.
The woman was reportedly so angry that her husband did not perform the five daily prayers requested from Muslims that she wanted to end their marriage, Saudi news site Al Marsad reported on Wednesday.
Her decision sparked an intense debate on social media between those who supported her move and those who opposed it.
“Islam is very clear about the obligation of prayers,” Reem, an online user, said. “This woman obviously does not want to live with someone who is not fulfilling the requirements, and the best thing is to end the marriage at the earliest stage possible.”
Khalid said that the woman was right in moving ahead with her life without a husband who does not respect God’s orders.
“She is absolutely right,” he said. “When a man does not honour commitments to God, he cannot be trusted to respect his pledges to his wife. The best thing is to part ways.”
For Faten, marriages should be built on high morals and commitments to God’s way of life.
“Men are not married for their wealth or power, but rather for their morals and religious practices,” she said. “If she feels that her husband is not a practicing Muslim, then she should leave him because she cannot feel comfortable living with him, and that is what she did.”
However, those who opposed the wife said she should have been more thoughtful before asking for divorce.
“She should have been more patient and gradually convinced him to perform his prayers,” a user writing under the moniker of Scout said. “She has really rushed into a decision that is not necessarily the best option.”
Saleh said that prayers should not be used to assess a marriage.
“The most important thing is that they treat each other nicely and respectfully,” he said. “There are men who do perform their prayers daily, but they show no respect towards their wives. I believe this woman should have waited at least for one month and then make a decision.”
Another user, Visitor, said that the wife should have enquired about the man before accepting to marry him.
“This is really sad because it involves two families,” he said. “All this mess could have been avoided if the woman was aware of the man’s degree of commitment to religion before they got married. It is truly an awkward situation that could have and should have been avoided.”