JEDDAH: With divorce on the rise in the Kingdom, questions are now being asked as to whether it is the solution for unhappy marriages or a serious social problem. According to the Ministry of Justice, 28 percent of divorces in the country take place at the beginning of marriage. There are about 144,436 marriages in one year, at a daily average of 396 marriage contracts. About 12 percent of these marriages are registered in courts while 88 percent are processed by the 3,667 marriage officials in the Kingdom. Makkah, according to last year's ministerial report, had the most marriages in one year with 26.2 percent, or 37,892 marriages; followed by Riyadh with 30,759 marriages or 21.3 percent. Najran had the least, with 2,299 marriages or 1.6 percent. In 2008 there were 28,867 divorces in the country, at a rate of 80 cases every day. These cases included 24,608 cases of divorce; 1,344 cases of khula' where a judge divorces the wife at her request after she pays the husband money; and 2,915 cases of marriage contract revocation, which takes place before the wedding. The highest number of divorces that year was recorded in Riyadh with 8,274 or 28.7 percent, followed by Makkah Region with 7,677 cases or 26.6 percent. Al-Baha was last with only 401 cases, or 1.4 percent. The ministry also showed that 89.5 percent, or 25,847 cases, involved Saudi men and women. Cases with one non-Saudi party totaled 3,020, or 10.5 percent of the total number of divorce cases in Saudi Arabia. Munira, a teacher, believes that “the man is mostly responsible for the divorce, especially today's men who are temperamental, selfish and self-absorbed. They demand a lot from a woman and do not respect her rights”. Talal Sa'ad said differences in age, culture and education, in addition to one partner being irresponsible, are the main reasons for divorce. Dr. Abdullah Bin Saif, Islamic Studies professor and a marriage official, said that parents' intervention, and the man or woman not respecting the requirements and rights of the other are the main reasons for divorce in many cases.
