Texas Supreme Court reverses Houston resident’s Sharia law divorce in Pakistan

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(The Center Square) – The Texas Supreme Court has intervened in a Houston divorce dispute ruling that a divorce granted through Islamic Sharia law in Pakistan is not valid in Texas. 

The case raises questions about visa and marriage fraud, arranged marriages and Islamic Sharia law, which Republican state and federal lawmakers have rallied against.

The case involves Houston residents and Pakistani nationals Mohammad Ali Choudhri and Hira Azhar who were married in Pakistan through an arranged marriage and divorced in Pakistan through Sharia law, according to court documents. The Texas Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal brought by Azhar in a Harris County case.

At issue is the Islamic Sharia Law practice of talaq and jurisdiction of Pakistani courts.  According to court documents, Choudhri, Pakistani and Harris County courts acknowledge he used the Sharia law practice of talaq in 2013. This involves an Islamic husband divorcing his wife by stating he divorces her three times. 

Choudhri divorced Azhar through talaq “without her knowledge or consent … His wife was not served with process. She was not heard. She received no notice at all until two years after the divorce was final,” the Texas Supreme Court said in its ruling.

The Islamic Sharia Council in London explains that under Sharia law, the husband is supposed to first ask for an arbitration meeting. If reconciliation fails, “he may divorce her either verbally or in writing – known as Talaq,” with two witnesses present and only “when his wife is not on her menses, and when there has been no sexual contact with her since the time of her last menses,” it says. After he pronounces the divorce, “his wife must wait for a given period of 3 months or 3 menstrual cycles. During this period, the wife is allowed to stay in the same house and the husband is responsible for her welfare and maintenance.” 

Under U.S. law, the “principle of natural justice” applies, the Texas Supreme Court said. This “requires a person to have notice of a suit before he can be conclusively bound by its result.” 

“The Pakistani divorce judgment was issued contrary to these principles. Accordingly, it cannot be afforded comity. We reverse and remand to the trial court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion,” the high court ruled.

According to court documents, in 2008, Choudhri traveled to Pakistan to marry Azhar in an arranged marriage when he was 28 and she was 18. She then came to Houston in 2010 after obtaining a visa. 

Arranged marriages are recognized in the U.S., including in Texas. Because age and consent are questionable in arranged marriages, a movement to ban child marriage at the state level is ongoing. Depending on the circumstance, arranged marriages may violate federal immigration law and constitute visa fraud.

In 2012, Azhar returned to Pakistan to renew her visa. In 2013, Choudhri traveled to Pakistan to divorce her through talaq, according to court documents. In 2015, she challenged the divorce in Pakistan and in Harris County. In 2018, the Pakistan Supreme Court ruled against her, stating they were divorced through talaq in 2013.

The Harris County trial court next dismissed her divorce petition based on its ruling, granting comity. Comity refers to courts in “one state or jurisdiction respecting the laws and judicial decisions of other jurisdictions,” including international. She then appealed.

Prior to both rulings, in 2017, the Texas legislature enacted HB 45, which required the Texas Supreme Court to adopt rules and provide judicial instruction regarding the application of foreign laws in certain family law cases. In 2018, Rule 308b went into effect, which requires hearings to determine the enforceability of a judgment or arbitration award based on foreign law in certain lawsuits under Texas family code. 

Although Azhar sued before Rule 308b took effect, the high court agreed to review her case.

Eleven years after Azhar filed for divorce in Texas, the Texas Supreme Court ruled, “Other countries are welcome to conclude otherwise, but their judgments are not entitled to comity in a Texas court. No foreign judgment is entitled to comity when it contradicts the fundamental guarantees of the Texas and United States Constitutions. For the reasons set out above, the Pakistani proceeding challenged here exemplifies the type of foreign judgment that Texas courts may not enforce.”

It also cited an 1895 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that held that “no sovereign is ever required to recognize the judgment of a foreign sovereign, and comity ‘is neither a matter of absolute obligation, on the one hand nor of mere courtesy and good will, upon the other.’” 

The ruling comes after Texas leaders implemented a range of anti-Sharia law measures and the Trump administration prioritized identifying visa and marriage fraud, The Center Square reported.

Texas Republican congressmen Chip Roy and Keith Self launched a Sharia Free America Caucus and filed multiple bills as did Sen. John Cornyn, including the Defeat Sharia Law in America Act and the No Sharia Act.

Gov. Greg Abbott has also taken multiple actions to combat Sharia law, including launching an investigation into a Sharia tribunal in north Texas. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick listed banning Sharia law in Texas as a top legislative priority. Texas House Republicans created a Sharia Free Caucus, and in March, 95% of Republican primary voters supported a measure to ban Sharia law in Texas.