Spouses' Digital Slurs: The Unexpected Impact on Divorce Rates

Text messages and online conversations are increasingly showing up in UAE divorce courts as evidence of abuse, but legal experts warn that angry WhatsApp exchanges alone won't win you a divorce case. Courts are treating digital evidence with serious caution, requiring much more than screenshots to prove the kind of harm that justifies ending a marriage.

The UAE legal system draws a clear line between online harassment that's criminally punishable and the type of damage that actually matters in Islamic divorce proceedings. Just because your spouse sent you nasty messages doesn't automatically mean you have grounds for divorce.

Legal experts say that simply trading harsh words or angry comments through apps like WhatsApp and Instagram isn't enough evidence to prove the harm required for divorce. The UAE distinguishes between cybercrime and family damage because momentary anger or heated words shouldn't be the foundation for divorce rulings. Marriage bonds aren't broken by one angry electronic message.

Islamic courts handle digital evidence carefully since it can be easily manipulated or taken out of context. Divorce for harm only gets approved when there's proof of real abuse or serious mistreatment that makes married life unbearable.

A recent case in Sharjah shows how this works in practice. The Sharjah Islamic Court of Appeal rejected a woman's divorce petition that relied on WhatsApp messages she claimed contained repeated insults and abuse from her husband. She argued these messages proved mistreatment and made continuing their marriage impossible.

The court explained that the plaintiff didn't provide legal evidence, witnesses, or official reports proving harm. Her evidence was limited to electronic messages where the source and context couldn't be verified. The ruling stated that digital evidence can't stand alone in personal status cases unless supported by physical proof methods.

The court added a key principle: "Evidence is the lifeline of rights, and a right without evidence is the same as nothing."

Lawyer and legal consultant Rashid Al-Hufeiti explained that many family disputes start with simple disagreements at home, then move to messaging apps. Social media messages are considered circumstantial evidence subject to court evaluation. They can't be considered definitive proof unless issued by an official body that documents their source and timeline.

Courts require independent physical evidence proving harm, like witness testimony, medical reports, or official complaints. The law doesn't prevent submitting electronic messages as evidence, but it doesn't rely on them alone to prove facts affecting married life, especially when they come from one party or aren't technically documented.

Al-Hufeiti noted that mutual abuse through social media might express temporary disagreements that don't rise to the level of serious harm that permits separation. Some spouses rely on fragmented conversations to prove abuse, but courts only accept them if they're technically documented or connected to an existing criminal complaint.

Legal consultant Saeed Al-Zahmi confirmed that insults or abuse through any social media platform is a crime punishable under UAE law. No one can attack others or direct offensive language at them under any justification. The law clearly criminalizes electronic abuse, and anyone who directs insults through digital networks gets referred to criminal court.

But Al-Zahmi explained that insults, even through social media, don't count as evidence of harm justifying divorce. The legislator didn't expand divorce scope to include emotions or passing statements. Divorce for harm requires that the damage be serious, repeated, or continuous enough to make married life impossible.

Some spouses might exchange angry phrases in moments of emotion or quarrels, but this doesn't reach the level of harm requiring separation. The law punishes insults as an independent crime but doesn't consider them harm justifying divorce unless the abuse caused severe damage making marriage continuation impossible.

Judges distinguish between harm that's criminally punishable and harm that justifies divorce religiously. Not every abuse or dispute reaches the point of separating spouses.

Legal consultant Dr. Fahd Al-Dhahoori said that ruling on divorce for harm or discord between spouses requires that married life has become marked by entrenched conflict and discord making it unbearable hell, where continued companionship becomes impossible.

When considering divorce requests, judges must first verify the nature of the claimed harm and whether it reached a level of seriousness and danger making marriage continuation impossible. No minor or temporary harm used as a pretext for separation requests is considered.

Each spouse has the right to request divorce when harmed, whether by word or deed, even if it doesn't repeat, provided the harm is serious in its impact and danger. If the harm isn't serious or is simple in itself, it must be repeated or continuous in a way that makes married life continuation impossible and contrary to marriage purposes.

Al-Dhahoori explained that harm includes all physical or moral injury, like physical assault, insults and cursing, or accusations against honor. It extends to include abandonment without religious justification when it results in harm to the other party.

The UAE legislator didn't specify one form of harm, settling on it being serious and leading to discord and inability to continue proper companionship, whether the harm is tangible physical damage like severe beating or insults, or moral like a husband abandoning his wife or a wife refusing to live with her husband.

Legal consultant Fatima Al Ali said that a husband insulting his wife under UAE law is considered grounds enabling the wife to request divorce for harm. It's considered valid when proven to occur and leads to severe psychological or moral injury between spouses.

She emphasized the importance of distinguishing between criminal law and personal status law when examining these cases. Electronic insults are considered crimes punishable under Federal Decree No. 34 of 2021 regarding combating rumors and cybercrimes, where Article 43 states punishment by imprisonment and fines between 250,000 and 500,000 dirhams for insulting others using information networks or IT means.

Al Ali added that insults, if their impact on one spouse is proven, can be considered forms of harm justifying divorce based on personal status law, where each spouse can request divorce for harm that makes companionship continuation impossible. Harm is proven through all proof methods.

She explained that proving harm resulting from insults through social media happens by filing an official report about electronic abuse, so that the legally proven insult becomes part of the evidence before the Islamic court, showing that the insult had a real impact on the injured party's dignity and family life stability.

The difference between criminalization and religious consideration is that the first falls under criminal law scope that views the act as a general crime punishable by law, while personal status law looks at the family and moral impact of the act and how difficult marriage continuation becomes under it.