DUSHANBE, September 10, 2009, Asia-Plus –The divorce-via-text issue is back, this time in Tajikistan, Radio Liberty’s Tajis Service reported on September 8.

The head of the Wedding and Divorce Department in Tajikistan''s Rasht district, Gulob Nizomov, told RFE/RL that more and more Tajik men, working as labor migrants in Russia are divorcing their wives by text messaging.

According to Islamic tradition, a couple is considered divorced after a husband cites the word "Talaq" three times in front of his wife.

Local citizen Rukniddin Sharifov told RFE/RL that his daughter married in January and just four months after the wedding she received a text message from her husband in Russia, who denounced their marriage.

Mullah Mavlavi Zikrulloh acknowledged that in Islam it is enough for a man to repeat "Talaq" three times in front of his wife to end the marriage, however, he says, divorce via text is unacceptable.

According to him, it is not possible to verify that the message was sent by the owner of the telephone. In addition, he says that the "divorce words" should be pronounced in the presence of witnesses, to whom the man has to explain the reasons for his decision.